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(BRUSSELS) – The “scourge of protectionism” is on the rise, the European Commission warned on Monday as it released a report detailing a 10 per cent increase in obstacles currently hindering European exports.
The ‘Report on Trade and Investment Barriers’ found a total of 372 trade barriers in place in over 50 trade destinations across the world in 2016.
36 obstacles were created in 2016, which the EU executive estimates could affect EU exports that are currently worth around EUR 27 billion.
Protectionism affects European firms and their workers, said Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem, and she found it “worrying” that it was the G20 countries that are guilty of maintaining the highest number of trade barriers, citing Russia, Brazil, China and India as the chief culprits.
The EU would at next week’s G20 summit in Hamburg urge leaders to “walk the talk and resist protectionism,” said Ms Malmstroem: “Europe will not stand idly by and will not hesitate to use the tools at hand when countries don’t play by the rules.”
Trade and Investment Barriers Reports have been published annually since the start of the 2008 economic crisis. This year the report is wholly based on concrete complaints received by the Commission from European companies. They concern a wide range of products covering everything from agri-food to shipbuilding industries.
Most of the new protectionist measures reported in 2016 appeared in Russia and India, followed by Switzerland, China, Algeria and Egypt.
The Commission’s task is to defend European businesses against rising protectionist tendencies. The report shows that the Commission restored normal trading conditions in 20 various cases affecting EU exports worth some EUR 4.2 billion. South Korea, China, Israel and Ukraine top the list of countries where the EU succeeded in tackling barriers.
Sectors to have benefited most from recent EU action include food and drink, automotive and cosmetics sectors. The report cites examples as China’s suspension of labelling requirements that would otherwise affect the EUR 680 million-worth EU cosmetics exports; Korea agreed to bring its rules for the size of car seats in line with international rules and Israel enabled companies from the whole of the EU to request market authorisation and export their pharmaceutical products.
EU Commission, Member States and business representatives cooperate through the EU’s Market Access Strategy, leading to improved relations with trading partners under the recent EU’s trade agreements.
The Market Access Strategy is seen as a pivotal part of EU efforts to create the best possible conditions for European firms to export around the world and to ensure an effective enforcement of international trade rules.
The measures targeted in the report do not cover the trade defence measures. Anti-dumping or anti-subsidy duties, imposed in line with WTO requirements, are tools that serve to restore fair trading conditions. They are used by the EU and many of its partners to ensure a level-playing field.
Commission report on trade and investment barriers
