G20 economies agree on restraining protectionist measures

Trade ministers of G20 countries have committed to restrain and rollback protectionist measures with a view to boost the global trade.
In the meeting of trade ministers held in Shanghai on July 9-10, the member countries agreed to improve world trade governance and remain committed to an open global economy to help address the trade slowdown.
They also agreed to work towards trade liberalisation and facilitation.
The G20 trade ministers noted with concern that despite the G20's repeated pledges, the stock of restrictive measures affecting trade in goods and services has continued to rise, with about three quarters of the measures recorded since 2008 still in place.

"In response, we recommit to our existing pledge for both standstill and rollback of protectionist measures, and to extend it until the end of 2018. We also commit to improve the track record of notifications related to standstill and rollback efforts, including making better use of existing WTO bodies," the G20 Trade Ministers Meeting Statement said.
Expressing concerns over the spurt in number of trade restrictive measures by G20 economies, the WTO last month said it could have a "chilling effect" on trade flows.

The members also agreed to provide political leadership by acting with determination to promote inclusive, robust and sustainable trade and investment growth, which is integral to achieving our ambition of 2 per cent additional growth by 2018 set by G20 Leaders in Brisbane in 2014.

"We resolve to step up our efforts to better communicate the benefits of trade and investment openness and cooperation to a wider public, recognising their important contribution to global prosperity and development," it said.
The statement assumes significance as according to the WTO statistics, 2015 marked the fourth consecutive year with global trade growth below 3 per cent. The WTO chief has said that global trade is not in good shape today and 2016 is likely to be the fifth consecutive year of trade growth below 3 per cent.
In a continuing environment of low global economic growth, the role of the G20 in strengthening trade and investment remains vital, the statement said.

G20 is a group of developed and developing countries, including India, Australia, Brazil, China, France, the US and the UK and EU.