Overview of Developments in the International Trading Environment: Annual Report by the Director-General

The Director-General’s annual overview of trade-related developments discussed on 12 December at a meeting of the Trade Policy Review Body shows that trade restrictions by WTO members continue at historically high levels. Between mid-October 2018 and mid-October 2019, the trade coverage of import-restrictive measures implemented by members was estimated at USD 747 billion. This is the highest trade coverage recorded since October 2012 and represents an increase of 27% compared to the figure recorded in the previous annual overview (USD 588 billion). The report notes that new trade restrictions and increasing trade tensions added to the uncertainty surrounding international trade and the world economy.

WTO members show restraint in trade restrictions despite ongoing economic uncertainties: WTO members introduced fewer trade-restrictive measures from mid-October 2016 to mid-October 2017 compared to the previous year, according to the Director-General’s annual overview report on trade-related developments presented to members on 4 December. WTO members continued to implement more trade-facilitating than trade-restrictive measures. The estimated trade coverage of the import-facilitating measures recorded in the review period was more than double the import-restricting measures. In addition, the import-facilitating measures implemented during the review period in the context of the expanded Information Technology Agreement (ITA) amounted to around US$ 385 billion.

WTO report finds no acceleration in trade restrictions but slow pace for barrier removal: WTO members have continued to show some restraint in introducing new trade-restrictive measures and have also adopted a record number of trade facilitation measures during the period of October 2014 to October 2015 according to the Director-General’s annual report on trade-related developments. However, the report, which was discussed at the 9 December meeting of the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB), raises concerns over the increase in the stockpile of trade-restrictive measures recorded since 2008.

Azevêdo’s health-check on global trade: Growth recovering but restrictions on the rise: Director-General Roberto Azevêdo, in presenting his first global trade-monitoring report to WTO members on 17 February 2014, said that trade growth projections for this year are “much improved, hovering somewhere between 4.0% and 4.5%.” However, he said “407 new restrictive measures were reported during the review period,” affecting 1.3 % of world merchandise imports—valued at $240 billion.

Lamy calls for trade opening to continue as global economic outlook worsens: Director-General Pascal Lamy, in his annual report to WTO members on developments in the international trading environment, published on 21 November 2011, told members that “in a context of greater economic uncertainty and rising global risks, it is all the more important that the process of global trade opening continues”. In the light of a worsening of the global economy in recent months, with the forecast for world export growth revised downwards to 5.8% in 2011, he warned that unilateral action to shield domestic industries will not solve global problems but might make things worse by triggering a spiral of tit-for-tat reactions in which every country will lose.

Lamy calls for exit strategies on temporary trade restrictions and subsidies: Director-General Pascal Lamy, in his annual report on trade and trade-related developments in 2009, said that “although there have been instances of slippage, in general terms the world economy is about as open for trade today as it was before the crisis started.” He called on members “to devise and announce exit strategies to remove trade restrictions and production subsidies that they have introduced temporarily to counteract the effects of the crisis, and start implementing those strategies as soon as domestic economic recovery takes hold.”