Trade measures introduced by G20 countries continued to grow between mid-May and mid-October 2022, particularly in the case of food and fertilizers, amid the various economic challenges faced worldwide, which would lead to higher logistics costs and therefore higher prices for consumers.
According to the World Trade Organization (WTO) report, economies still had in force 52 restrictions on the export of food, feed and fertilizers and 63% of pandemic-related export restrictions were maintained by the G20 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States).
Since the beginning of the pandemic, G20 economies implemented 201 trade measures and related to trade in COVID-19-related goods. The majority (61%) facilitated trade, while the remainder (39%) could be considered trade restrictive.
In mid-October 2022, 77% of export restrictions had been repealedremaining 17 restrictions in forces. Although the number of pandemic-related trade restrictions in force decreased, their trade coverage remained significant, with $122 billion.
At the same time, the accumulated reserve of G20 import restrictions continued to grow. In mid-October, 11.6% of G20 imports were affected due to trade restriction measures implemented since 2009 and still in force.
According to the report, the implementation of new COVID-19-related trade measures by G20 economies has slowed over the past five months, with four new such measures recorded in goods and one in services.
Against this backdrop, the organization urged G20 economies to build on the momentum achieved at the Twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) and keep markets open and predictable to allow goods to flow to where they are most needed, remove bottlenecks in supply chains and make global value chains return to their disinflationary role as they have in the past.WTO Press Release)
Aduana News is the first Argentine customs newspaper to launch its digital version. With 20 years of experience, its publications and initiatives aim to provide the most relevant knowledge on customs issues in order to contribute to safe trade in the region.
