Brussels, 18/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - The tendency to adopt trade-restricting measures remains strong among the EU's commercial partners, fuelling continued uncertainty in the world economy, states the Commission, in a report published on Monday 17 November.
The 2014 edition of the annual report on protectionism in the EU's commercial partners lists 170 new trade-restricting measures adopted between 1 June 2013 and 30 June 2014 in the countries of the G20 (South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, South Korea, the United States, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia and Turkey) and other major partners (Algeria, Belarus, Ecuador, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Ukraine and Vietnam). Many of these measures were adopted by Russia, China, Indonesia and India. Just 12 existing obstacles were abolished over the same period.
Already high in 2013, the number of measures applied on the border and rapidly hindering trade has continued to rise and Russia is number one in terms of measures affecting imports, the report stresses. New export restrictions have also increased, which is “particularly worrying”, as these have harmful consequences for countries which depend on their natural resources, as well as for the global commodity markets and value chains, the Commission adds.
The European Executive also hits out at the fact that certain countries have resorted more frequently to discriminatory internal taxation measures, technical regulations or localisation requirements to shield their markets from foreign competition. China introduced the highest number of such measures, the Commission notes.
Lastly, the report also flags up persistent limitations in access to foreign markets for investors and service providers, as well as the continuing tendency to restrict participation of foreign companies and public tenders, particularly in the United States.
“I regret to see that many countries still consider protectionism a valid policy tool. This goes clearly against the G20's commitment to abstain from imposing trade restrictions and to remove existing ones. Trade openness is what we need if we are to keep the recovery going, especially in times of global economic and political instability”, said the new Trade Commissioner, Cecilia Malmström. (EH)