The United States has launched a strategy to mobilize its vast resources to support global economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. Department of State’s Global Economic Activity and Recovery (GEAR) strategy will support this broader effort by enabling food trade and security, deploying financial tools for economic recovery, supporting U.S. exporters and investors abroad, and helping restore international transportation and travel.
“Our aim is to poise the U.S. economy for rapid growth and spur economic recovery that will directly benefit our citizens and the rest of the world,” says Sarah Weber, a senior adviser in the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.
We @EconAtState are committed now more than ever to empower growth and secure our future! Our leadership A/S @manishasingh asked how we can contribute to returning America to the #prosperity before #Covid19. Answer: the Global Economic Activity and Recovery (GEAR) strategy. pic.twitter.com/EkCXbTWGQY
— EconDiplomacy@State (@EconAtState) June 30, 2020
The United States has led the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, allocating more than $12 billion for global health-security initiatives; development of COVID-19 vaccines, therapies and diagnostics; humanitarian aid; and emergency preparedness.
As a world leader in innovation, the United States is also well poised to spur economic recovery. The World Intellectual Property Organization, in its Global Innovation Index 2020 report, ranked the United States among the top three most innovative economies.
American innovation, along with U.S. government support, has played a key role in the development of two COVID-19 vaccine candidates that appear highly effective in clinical trials at preventing infection.
Under the GEAR strategy, economic recovery decisions will rely on evidence-based analysis of the harms caused by the pandemic. The United States will work with industry and international partners to implement measures such as health screening, testing and social distancing at travel hubs, in airports and on airplanes.
The pandemic also revealed risks of over-reliance on single countries for critical supplies, such as medical or telecommunications equipment, U.S. officials say. The GEAR strategy supports existing U.S. efforts, such as the Clean Network, and U.S. warnings that partner nations cannot rely on China’s untrustworthy fifth-generation telecommunications vendors like Huawei, which pose significant security risks.
Through the Deal Team initiative, the U.S. government coordinates the efforts of 14 U.S. agencies to support American companies’ business and investment abroad to bolster countries’ economic and development goals.
“We must diversify global supply chains by prioritizing investment both here at home and in other countries where the rule of law is respected and where institutions are accountable to citizens and consumers,” State Department officials say. “We are regularly engaging with our allies and partners to discuss these imperatives and ensure we are working together to address global supply chain challenges.”