The World Trade Organisation (WTO), has declared that new import restrictions covering traded merchandise between October 2019 and May 2020, was worth about $423.1 billion.
WTO, in a new report, noted that 56 new trade-restrictive measures not related to the coronavirus pandemic were implemented between mid-October 2019 and mid-May 2020 – mainly tariff increases, import bans, exports duties and stricter exports customs procedures.
It stated that: “The new import restrictions covered traded merchandise worth an estimated $423.1 billion, the third-highest value since October 2012.”
WTO estimates indicate that the cumulative trade coverage of import-restrictive measures implemented since 2009, and still in force, amounts to $1.7 trillion or 8.7 per cent of world imports. This figure has grown steadily since 2009, both in value terms and as a percentage of world imports.
Notwithstanding the restrictions, the report revealed that WTO members are moving towards trade-facilitating policies across sectors during the review period, with 51 new trade-facilitating measures not related to COVID-19 implemented.
“These measures mainly included the elimination or reduction of import tariffs, the elimination of import taxes, the simplification of customs procedures and the reduction of export duties,” it stated.
It added that the trade coverage of non-COVID-19 related import-facilitating measures was estimated at $739.4 billion, which is significantly higher than the $544.7 billion recorded in the previous report (from mid-May to mid-October 2019) and represents the second-highest figure since October 2012.
