Sources Evenett, Simon (2014); The Global Trade Disorder: the 16th Global Trade Alert, CEPR Press, London. UNCTAD.International Chamber of Commerce.

An infographic by The Economist Intelligence Unit

Two or more countries do not automatically trade with each other; they have to be open to it. Fortunately, most of the world’s significant economies are more open to trade today than in the past decade. However, the number of state-sponsored measures biased against foreign commercial interests, such as local content requirements, tariffs and export taxes, has increased since 2008 and exceeds the number of measures that improve trade transparency.

Notes The countries in this infographic represent the Group of 20 major economies.

The persistence of protectionism

Top 10 countrieswith protectionist policies

Top 10 countriesdiscriminated against

Number of measures that discriminate against foreign firms, 2008-2014.Developing economies comprise the top five countries that have erected protectionist policies since 2008. Apart from China, advanced economies have borne the brunt of these policies.

1Russia 307

2Argentina 216

3India 215

4Brazil 106

5Indonesia 87

6Germany 75

7USA 73

8Japan 66

9

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9China

China

USA

Germany

France

UK

Italy

Japan

South Korea

India63

994

RANKINGCOUNTRY MEASURES RANKING COUNTRYMEASURES

982

853

764

747

742

657

651

583

10 10Italy / UK Canada61 540

−8%

Less Open to trade More Open to trade

−7% −6% −5% −4% −3% −2% −1% 0% +1% +2% +3% +4% +5% +6% +7% +8%

Trade openness: Somewhat improvedDifference of total trade as a % of GDP from the 10-year average, 2005-2014.In the past decade, using total trade relative to GDP as a proxy for trade openness, Japan and Turkey have become much more open, while China and Saudi Arabia have become much less open.

China

UK

Australia

Canada

France

Germany

India

Indonesia

Saudi Arabia

Brazil

USA

South Africa

South Korea

Turkey

Japan

Mexico

Argentina

Italy

Global trade: Open passage?

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