Ahead of an orientation debate on EU trade policy to take place at the College of Commissioners on Wednesday 6 September, the European retail, wholesale and international trade association, EuroCommerce, has published a report against protectionism, speaking out against the risks both for free trade at global level and for the single market – "two elements that should be strengthened rather than undermined in order to improve growth and jobs", it states.
Since 2011 countries throughout the world have adopted protectionist policies: the USA, with its new president, Donald Trump, is distancing itself from new and existing trade agreements; China, India and other G20 countries, which are multiplying barriers to foreign suppliers of goods and services; and some EU countries which, in order to protect their national champions, are imposing discriminatory legislation against which retailers and wholesalers are coming up, EuroCommerce states.
The association welcomes the expected €500 million in annual gains for EU exporters resulting from the EU-Canada free trade agreement (CETA), which is soon to be implemented. Furthermore, it also welcomes the expected rise in the volume of exports of goods and services to Japan (currently estimated at €86 billion), which should come about from the removal of numerous Japanese customs tariffs and barriers following the agreement in principle that was sealed in July with a view to an EU-Japan free trade agreement.
EuroCommerce deplores, however, the resolve of the US government to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the US-South Korea free trade agreement, as well as its resolve to withdraw from the TransPacific Partnership that was concluded with 11 countries around the Pacific Ocean in 2015, and its resolve to freeze the TTIP negotiations with the EU and the plurilateral talks on the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA).
"We have consistently argued that building new barriers to trade is wrong-headed, and ultimately makes everyone poorer. Seeking to protect national champions puts up prices for consumers and stops them benefiting from competition. It arguably also harms the very companies it seeks to shield from those forces, by making them less able to compete globally and themselves adopt the innovation that competitors may introduce. Retail and wholesale thrive on competition, and it is the only proven way of ensuring that consumers get a good deal, and the economy can grow”, EuroCommerce concludes. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)