The director-general of the G20 has said WTO countries must co-operate to ease global trade tensions after the trade coverage of import-restrictive measures hit what he called a “dramatic spike”. Roberto Azevêdo said the rise in trade restrictions which had followed a stable trend since the financial crisis threatened uncertainty, reduced investment and lower trade growth. He called for urgent leadership from the WTO to tackle the problem. WTO said G20 countries had introduced more than 3.5 new trade restrictions, less than in previous periods although involving much more trade and harsher tariffs.
The director-general of the WTO has said G20 countries must co-operate to ease global trade tensions after the trade coverage of import-restrictive measures hit what he called a “dramatic spike”. Roberto Azevedo said the rise in trade restrictions which had followed a stable trend since the financial crisis threatened uncertainty, reduced investment and lower trade growth. He called for urgent leadership from the WTO to tackle the problem. The WTO Monitoring Report said G20 countries had introduced 20 new trade restrictions, less than in previous periods although involving much more trade and harsher tariffs.