THE SURGE IN TRADE PROTECTIONISM: EVIDENCE AND IMPLICATIONS

Against the backdrop of decelerating global trade growth since the global financial crisis, 2015 and the first part of 2016 have seen an alarming upswing in trade protectionism along sidegrowing public sentiment against free trade in many countries. Drawing on data from the last monitoring reports released by the WTO and other monitoring exercises, this paper takes stock of therecent trade policy developments globally in order to show the outstanding upsurge in new protectionist measures implemented worldwide, and highlight the new dynamics and patterns of contemporary trade protectionism. It also puts forward some reflections on the obvious connection between the post-crisis slow down in global trade and the escalating protectionist pressures, as well as the potential implications of these phenomena for the future configuration of global trade relations.The findings of the paper draw attention to the dangers inherent in the new trade policy course and stress the urgent need to resume multilateral trade negotiations under the WTO.