NEW APPLICATIONS OF THE WTO SIMPLIFICATION AGREEMENT
At the meeting of the Commission on Trade Facilitation on 20 July, the WTO Member States took note of the trade facilitation commitments which should be implemented by the end of the year, as well as continuing to work on first revision of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).
THE WORLD TARIFF PROFILES 2021 HAS BEEN PUBLISHED
The WTO published on July 14 the 2021 edition of World Tariff Profiles, a joint publication with the International Trade Center the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which provides information on tariff and non-tariff customs measures imposed from over 170 countries and territories.
CHINA ALSO PROTAGONIST AT THE WTO
Protectionist measures (anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties primarily) applied to many Chinese products by economies concerned about Dragon’s aggressiveness on world markets and an unparalleled post-pandemic recovery are often a source of controversy, subject to WTO arbitration.
PANDEMIC SLOWS PROTECTIONISM
According to a recent WTO report, the balance of trade policies respected by the G20 economies has prevented a destructive acceleration of those protectionist measures which would have further damaged the world economy, already tested by the health emergency.
The 25th WTO Trade Monitoring Report analyzes the trade measures taken by the G20 economies as the world continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The period examined (from mid-October 2020 to mid-May 2021), presents interesting information, identifying a series of areas subject, in most Countries, to an economic recovery, even in the presence of a health emergency that has not yet ended. In particular, international cooperation and coordination between nations and intergovernmental organisations has increased and intensified in recent months. In numerical terms, since the beginning of the pandemic, the G20 economies have implemented 140 trade measures, 101 (72%) to promote trade and only 39 (28%) of a protectionist nature. The reduction or elimination of import taxation, applied to goods such as DPI, disinfectants, medical equipment, and medicine, accounted for 60% of trade facilitation measures. Export bans accounted for more than 90% of all restrictive measures; grants, loans, fiscal and financial incentives for the sectors most affected by the crisis (agriculture, health, tourism), on the other hand, were the subject of the support policies adopted.