The World Trade Organization has released a report titled World Trade Outlook and Statistics, highlighting two negative trends: falling trade volumes and growing uncertainty in trade policies. The slowdown in global trade, evident over the past two years, is largely due to structural market factors. Key contributors to the weak trade performance in 2025 include slowing growth in major economies following a prolonged post-lockdown recovery, stagnating export volumes and reduced demand from major buyers.
The WTO projects a sharper decline ahead, citing heightened protectionism among major trading powers. In particular, the trade conflict between the United States and China threatens to shift trade flows and deepen uncertainty. While the effect of tariffs varies by region, they remain a major drag on global trade and have prompted the WTO to lower its baseline forecasts. The WTO emphasizes that, due to heightened uncertainty, all forecasts should be interpreted with greater caution than usual.
No comments:
Post a Comment