COVID-19: Global trade hit by new import restrictions – WTO

COVID-19: Global trade hit by new import restrictions – WTO

Global trade has been hit by new and accumulated import restrictions just as economies need to rebuild in the COVID-19 crisis, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said in a mid-year report issued on Friday.

But some export constraints imposed on surgical masks, medicines and medical equipment early in the pandemic are being rolled back, it said.

WTO
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“Although the full impact of the pandemic is not yet reflected fully in trade statistics, it is expected to be very substantial”, WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo said in presenting the report to its 164 member states.

The WTO said last month that estimates for the second quarter of 2020 indicated a year-on-year drop in world trade of about 18%.

Reuters