2023-10-28 19:57:58
January 23, 2017 was a turning point for world trade. On that day, then American President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the negotiated but not yet ratified Trans-Pacific Free Trade Pact (TPP). Trump snubbed eleven trading partners, including Japan, Australia, Canada and Mexico. Above all, it was a signal that free world trade with America had lost its most important advocate. From now on there was a real danger that globalization could come to an end after decades of increasing economic integration. In a new series in the coming weeks, FAZ correspondents will examine the question of whether the global economy is actually fragmenting – or not.
In fact, the number of newly introduced trade barriers has increased significantly since 2017. This year, Global Trade Alert researchers counted 2,240 new government interventions that hinder free trade. That is almost ten times as much as in 2009, when the countries of the Group of 20 (G20) feared that the global financial crisis would lead to a flare-up of protectionism. Back then they promised to maintain free markets.
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