G20 activates 18 trade restrictive measures

The Group of 20 (G20) registered 18 new restrictive trade measures between mid-May and mid-October 2020, mostly tariff increases, followed by prohibitions and stricter customs procedures, the World Trade Organization (WTO) reported on Wednesday.

The average of 3.6 G20 trade restrictive measures recorded during the period is the lowest since 2012.

The measures reported by the G20 cover a wide range of products. The main sectors affected (HS Chapters) were fuels and mineral oils (SA 27) 23.7%, machinery and mechanical devices (SA 84) 17.2%, vehicles and their parts (SA 87) 13% and electrical machinery and their parts (SA 85) 7.5 percent.

Other trade and trade-related measures

The trade coverage of restrictive trade measures affecting imports during the review period was estimated at $ 42.9 billion, or 0.3% of the value of G20 merchandise imports.

G20 and international trade

The overall picture regarding the regular trade measures implemented by the G20 economies during the review is noteworthy insofar as the trade covers recorded for the import facilitation and restriction measures are very similar in size to the coverage commercial initiations of commercial remedial measures.

Typically, the initiation of trade remedy measures, while numerically significant, covers a much smaller proportion of the trade than the facilitating and restrictive measures.

Share of trade covered by import-restrictive measures

There can be several explanations for this narrative. First, the steep drop in world trade since the second quarter of 2020 means that there has simply been less trade to facilitate or restrict.

Second, the ongoing global health emergency has almost inevitably caused governments to focus less on designing and implementing regular trade policies and more on addressing immediate trade problems in the context of the pandemic.

Third, despite the first wave of trade restrictions on various essential medical products, countries have generally expressed and fulfilled a commitment to ensure that trade can flow freely during the pandemic.

Finally, a considerable part of the trade coverage of the facilitating and restrictive measures over the past 3-4 years has been directly associated with the bilateral measures taken between the United States and China.

In the current review period, there have been no major developments in that specific context.