Trade Experts Give G-20 Poor Grades On Resisting Protectionism

(Tom Barkley — Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal)

Group of 20 leaders don’t deserve to pat themselves on the back for avoiding protectionism this weekend, trade experts said Wednesday.

Discriminatory measures hurting trade are on the rise and affecting over 10% of global flows, while the prospects for a deal on the Doha round of trade talks are dimming, said participants at an event hosted by the Washington International Trade Association. […]

Earlier this month, the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the United Nations all applauded G-20 leaders for upholding the pledge they made at the first summit in November 2008.

However, those views are disputed by the latest Global Trade Alert… The report published Wednesday found that governments around the world have imposed more than 350 discriminatory measures since the last leaders’ summit in September 2009, bringing the total number that haven’t been reversed to nearly 650 since the first G-20 meeting. Sixteen of the most damaging provisions cover a combined $1.6 trillion in trade flows, or more than 10% of world imports in 2008. Read more here.