Protectionism ‘on the rise’

EU to complain to G20 about trade restrictions.

The European Union’s leaders will head to a G20 meeting on 18-19 June with a message from the European Commission that protectionism is on the rise in the global economy. 

In a report published yesterday (6 June), the Commission said that there had been a “staggering” 25% increase in “potentially restrictive” trade measures introduced, accompanied by a slowdown in the number of restrictions removed.

At previous summits, G20 members have committed themselves to rolling back protectionist measures introduced to stimulate exports following the economic crisis of 2008.

The Commission said only 89 restrictions have lapsed or been removed since 2008. This compares with 534 currently in place in the 31 countries monitored. The Commission’s report lists Argentina, Russia, Indonesia and Brazil – all G20 members – as the biggest users of trade restrictions. Argentina’s tally of 119 compares with 30 for China, whose public-procurement rules in the wind energy, railways and automotive sectors were highlighted.

The Commission’s conclusions have broad similarities with a 31 May report prepared for the G20 meeting at Los Cabos, Mexico, by the World Trade Organization, the United Nations and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Their report does not provide a comparable tally, nor does it talk of an acceleration in protectionism. However, it states that “there has been no slowdown in the imposition of new trade restrictions …and there is no indication that efforts have been stepped up to remove existing restrictions”.

The OECD/UN/WTO report found that three sets of EU rules – on waste electronics, the authorisation of chemicals (Reach) and wine – are among the six that have attracted most complaints from other countries.

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