Protectionism Is Growing, World Trade to Slow Further: WTO

(ICTSD- Bridges Monthly)

The third WTO report on trade-related measures taken by Members in response to the economic crisis found a growing trend toward protectionism and predicted that the volume of global exports and imports would decline by 10% in 2009.

“In the past three months there has been further slippage towards more trade restricting and distorting policies, but resort to high intensity protectionist measures has been contained overall, albeit with difficulties,” the report noted. Between 1 March and 19 June, a total of 119 new trade measures were notified to the WTO, with trade-restrictive or -distorting measures outpacing trade-liberalising action by a factor of two.

Anti-dumping and safeguard investigations are up, as are new tariffs and non-tariff measures, the report said. The sectors most affected include agriculture, and dairy in particular, iron and steel, motor vehicles and parts, chemicals and plastics, as well as textiles and clothing. Read more here.