WTO says G20 trade restrictions rise to $ 481 billion

GENEVA (Reuters) – G20 countries, which are among the world's largest economies, implemented 40 new trade restrictive measures between mid-May and mid-October, accounting for about US $ 481 billion. trade, announced Thursday the World Trade Organization.

The new restrictions covered six times more trade than in the previous period and were the largest since the WTO began monitoring G20 trade in 2012, the statement said.

"The conclusions of the report should be of grave concern to the G20 governments and the entire international community," said WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo.

"The continuation of the escalation remains a real threat. If we continue in the same direction, the economic risks will increase, with potential effects on growth, employment and consumer prices around the world. "

The WTO was doing everything in its power to help defuse the situation, he added, but the solutions would require the political will and leadership of the G20, whose leaders will meet in Argentina next week .

The monthly number of trade restrictions averages eight during the reporting period, compared with six in the previous report, which ran from mid-October 2017 to mid-May 2018, the statement said. l & # 39; WTO.

"The proliferation of restrictive measures for trade and the uncertainty created by such measures could jeopardize the economic recovery. Further escalation would pose potentially significant risks to global trade, with repercussions on economic growth, employment and consumer prices around the world, "he said.

HIKING RATES

Three quarters of the latest trade restrictions were tariff increases, many of which retaliated against the steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump in March.

But the WTO has not taken into account the measures announced and not yet implemented, and a G20 country has requested that its tariff retaliation be omitted from the follow-up report, which was written for "transparency", the WTO said.

G20 countries have also implemented an average monthly average of nearly seven trade liberalization measures, such as the reduction of import duties and export duties, in line with the trend observed since 2012. .

Trade under liberalization measures amounted to $ 216 billion, about two and a half times higher than in the previous report. Two-thirds of this value is attributable to China, which reduced more than 1,400 tariffs on vehicles, components and other products.

An additional trade of $ 541 billion, or 4 per cent of G20 imports, was covered by the expansion of the WTO Information Technology Agreement, a liberalization measure excluded from key figures of the report.