Retaliation for trade restrictions discussed in WTO report

In his annual report to the World Trade Organization (WTO), director general Pascal Lamy highlighted potential dangers associated with increasingly protectionist trade restrictions. “The political consensus in favor of open trade and investment is already under strain from stubbornly high levels of unemployment in many countries,” says Lamy. Restricting trade won’t correct unemployment, but could provoke retaliation, which would “seriously threaten jobs and growth worldwide.” Since the world economic crisis began, new trade restrictions installed as short-term crisis measures are remaining in place, and Lamy recommends that “exit strategies to unwind them” should be transparent and not discriminate against specific traders or investors. The WTO will meet in spring 2011 to discuss trade restrictions.