Economic research and trade policy analysis
Prólogo
Perfiles arancelarios en el mundo es una publicación conjunta de la OMC, el ITC y la UNCTAD dedicada al acceso a los mercados para las mercancías. Este anuario estadístico contiene una amplia compilación de los principales parámetros arancelarios para cada uno de los 164 Miembros de la OMC, así como de otros países y territorios aduaneros. El perfil de cada país presenta información sobre los aranceles que cada economía impone a sus importaciones y se complementa con un análisis de las condiciones de acceso a los mercados en sus principales mercados de exportación.
Introduction
Les Profils tarifaires dans le monde sont une publication conjointe de l'OMC, de l'ITC et de la CNUCED consacrée à l'accès aux marchés des marchandises. Cet annuaire statistique contient un recueil détaillé des principaux paramètres tarifaires de chacun des 164 Membres de l'OMC et autres pays et territoires douaniers. Chaque profil tarifaire fournit des renseignements concernant les tarifs douaniers appliqués par chaque économie à ses importations, complétés par une analyse des conditions d'accès aux marchés qu'elle rencontre sur ses principaux marchés d'exportation.
Acknowledgements
The World Trade Report 2024 was prepared under the general responsibility and guidance of Johanna Hill, WTO Deputy Director-General, and Ralph Ossa, Director of the Economic Research and Statistics Division. Director-General Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Chief of Staff Bright Okogu and Trineesh Biswas from the Office of the Director-General provided valuable advice and guidance.
Foreword by the WTO Director-General
The mission of the World Trade Organization, as set out in the preamble to its founding Marrakesh Agreement, is to use trade as a means to raise living standards, create jobs and promote sustainable development. As we mark the WTO’s 30th anniversary, it is clear that members have used the open and predictable global economy anchored in WTO rules and norms to accelerate growth and development, with enormous positive impacts for human well-being. At the same time, many people and places have not shared adequately in these gains.
Inclusive trade and international cooperation
This chapter discusses how the multilateral trading system has helped some economies to take advantage of trade to further their development, but has not succeeded in helping others to harness trade for growth and considers what could be done to ensure that the WTO leaves no economy behind. It also examines the effect of the WTO on how the benefits of trade are shared out within economies, and discusses how the WTO and trade can be made more inclusive for people and firms. Finally, the chapter outlines the areas in which work at the WTO could be coordinated with work at other international organizations to help make trade more inclusive, such as by enhancing infrastructure and digital connectivity to bridge the digital gap or by ensuring coherence between trade and environmental policies.
Introduction
Global trade is often accused of creating a more unequal world, but in fact the opposite is happening. Billions of people in developing economies are catching up to the more advanced economies, as millions of people in the advanced economies continue to move ahead. This global economic convergence is only possible because the world has become more open and integrated – expanding access to new markets, new technologies and new models for achieving rapid, sustained and inclusive growth.
Trade and inclusiveness within economies
Trade has raised aggregate welfare and reduced poverty without necessarily raising inequality in many economies, but the impact of trade is more complex for individuals. People may benefit from cheaper prices, larger variety and export opportunities, but they may also face increased competition and may, therefore, either gain or lose from trade. This chapter reviews why, although most people gain from trade, some suffer losses. These losses can be aggravated by distortions and barriers, such as mobility costs or monopolies, that tend to impact more vulnerable groups disproportionately, and may prevent them from adjusting to import competition and accessing export opportunities. The chapter also examines why using restrictive trade policy to redistribute gains from trade is often unsuccessful and can have unintended consequences, such as retaliation by trade partners. In contrast, domestic policies, such as education and social protection, are more effective in addressing inequality. Their importance is likely to grow as the digital revolution, climate change and geopolitics continue to shape the distributional impacts of trade.
Trade and income convergence
The past quarter of a century has witnessed an unprecedented level of income convergence, accompanied by the integration of many developing economies into global markets. Despite this, some economies have been left behind. This chapter discusses how the participation of developing economies in global trade and investment flows can accelerate structural transformation and enhance productivity growth, thereby helping lowand middle-income economies to achieve the economic growth that ensures convergence with high-income economies. The chapter also examines why some economies have taken little advantage of globalization, and focuses on barriers to maximizing the gains from trade participation, such as trade costs and commodity dependence. Finally, the chapter discusses how recent trends in the global economy are shaping future opportunities and challenges for developing economies to leverage trade and foreign direct investment for economic growth, and which policies can help to achieve convergence in the upcoming decade.
Executive summary
Never before have the living conditions and prospects of so many people changed so dramatically in the space of a few decades.
Conclusions
Over the past 30 years, the world has witnessed a period of unprecedented income convergence, accompanied by a steep reduction in poverty, but inequality remains high.
Executive Summary
Data flows are the lifeblood of our modern social and economic interactions. However, concerns related to privacy and data protection, national security, cybersecurity, digital protectionism and regulatory reach, among others, have led to a surge in regulation conditioning (or prohibiting) its flow or mandating that data be stored or processed domestically.
Social
The emergent renewable hydrogen sector offers economic and sustainable development opportunities. Many developing economies see new possibilities in participating and profiting from the global energy market, as they have high renewable energy potential and could potentially produce renewable hydrogen and its derivatives at low cost.
Data flows and the evolving regulatory environment
Global traffic from data centres is estimated to have increased fourfold since 2015 – from 5 zettabytes in 2015 to around 20 in 2021. To put that into perspective, a zettabyte is 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 bytes (21 zeros), that is, a thousand exabytes, a billion terabytes, or a trillion gigabytes. There are 20 times more bytes of traffic from data centres than there are stars in the expanding universe.
Acknowledgements
The publication “Pathways to Sustainable Trade and Peace” was prepared under the general responsibility and guidance of Maika Oshikawa, Director of the Accessions Division.