Illiberal trade

Since 1995, World Trade Organization agreements on tariff liberalization have helped increase the volume of international trade. However, while on balance tariffs have decreased, non-tariff measures (NTMs) have increased, posing new barriers to international flows. NTMs cover a broad range of policies, including quotas or price controls, but also technical regulatory measures such as safety and sanitary standards for food and medical products. While NTMs typically focus on unrelated and legitimate policy objectives like promoting health, they also impose additional costs on companies in exporting countries. As a result, NTMs restrict trade, disproportionately affecting developing countries due to the complexity of these measures. Data from the United Nations Trade & Development (UNCTAD) organization shows that since 1999 global tariffs have declined from 13% to 7% of the value of products, while the cost of NTMs has risen from 53% to 72%.

Source: UN Trade and Development, June 2024