At the launch of the latest WTO-wide Trade Monitoring Report, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala emphasized the significant rise in trade-restrictive measures introduced by WTO members and implemented up to mid-October 2024. The WTO report was released 12:19 am Thursday, Dec. 13 (Manila Time).
In addition, there is little meaningful roll-back of existing trade restrictions. Okonjo-Iweala explained in her speech this only shows that the stockpile of trade restrictions continues to grow.
As of mid-October 2024, the stockpile of import restrictions in force was affecting an estimated $2.94 trillion representing 11.8% of world imports. That too is half a trillion dollars more than the comparable figure from last year’s report, which was $2.48 trillion, almost 10% of world imports.
Export restrictions are also gaining momentum, according to the report. In the 12 months leading up to mid-October, export-restrictive measures covered almost $277 billion in traded goods – well above the $159 billion covered by such measures introduced during the previous reporting period. The accumulated stockpile of export restrictions since 2009 is estimated to affect 3.2% of world exports, worth about $786 billion.
An important silver lining here is that our tracking of export restrictions on food, feed and fertilizers put in place since the start of the war in Ukraine in late February 2022 shows that these have decreased significantly, today covering an estimated trade value of $11.8 billion, down from almost $30 billion a year ago.
Also, the report also highlighted efforts by member countries to introduce trade liberalizing measures during the 12 months leading up to the middle of October. These trade enhancing measures include tariff reductions, simplified import procedures, and the removal of quantitative restrictions.
Okonjo-Iweala cited that these measures covered an estimated $1.4 trillion worth of traded goods. The amount is almost half a trillion dollars from the $977.2 billion covered by trade facilitating measures in the previous reporting period, from October 2022 to 2023.
Another positive trend comes from services trade. The report finds that the majority of the 134 services-related measures introduced over the past year were trade facilitating.
Regarding trade remedy actions, WTO members initiated an average of 28.2 measures per month during the review period, up from 16.7 in the previous period, marking the end of a slowdown observed since 2021. The monthly average of trade remedy terminations was 9.3, the lowest since 2015. Anti-dumping measures continue to be a central trade policy tool, accounting for 49.5% of trade measures on goods.
The report also noted that several economies introduced trade measures citing national security considerations, with an estimated trade coverage of USD 79.6 billion, or 0.2% of world trade. Additionally, new government support measures focused on climate change, environmental impact reduction, and transitioning to a sustainable economy.
Finally, the WTO report highlighted increasing trade fragmentation linked to geopolitical concerns, with trade increasingly conducted among like-minded economies, a trend accelerated by the war in Ukraine. However, a broader shift towards regionalization or near-shoring at the global level is not yet evident.
