Protectionism update

I had blogged earlier about the rise of creeping protectionism among G-20 countries in the aftermath of the global economic recession. Simon J Evenett examined the findings of the latest report of the Global Trade Alert (GTA) that examined such measures initiated by G-20 members since Novemeber 2008 (when they committed themselves to a no protectionism pledge) and finds an increase in trade-distorting protectionist measures among these countries.

He writes that the "overwhelming picture is one of planned and implemented state initiatives that reduce foreign commercial opportunities and reverse the 25-year trend towards open borders". He also finds that worldwide, the number of discriminatory measures being implemented outnumbers the liberalising measures by five to one and there are a large number of such measures on the pipeline and set to come into effect over the next six months. A small snapshot of the biggest offenders, ranked by four parameters, are shown below



And the graphic below represents the almost global-reach of the targets of protectionist measures imposed by G-20 nations.