Invisible Barriers
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on April 27 that the number of technical barriers to trade (TBT) reported to the World Trade Organization (WTO) reached a record high of 2,239 last year. The number had slightly decreased from 2,197 to 2,142 between the two previous years, but rose in 2014 with international oil prices plummeting and the currency war heating up.
Out of the 1,535 new TBTs, 1,223 were from developing countries. The United States and E.U. member countries put 181 and 88 new trade regulations into force, respectively. North America and Europe accounted for 7 percent and 9 percent of new TBTs last year.
This trend is posing a threat to Korean exporters. The Turkish government recently initiated a safeguard investigation on imported mobile phones at the request of Vestel, although the company has manufactured smartphones for less than a year. Korean handset manufacturers, which take up 50 percent of the Turkish smartphone market, are predicted to take a hit if safeguard measures are implemented.
The number of TBT is likely to go up during the course of this year as well, due mainly to the continuation of low growth. The WTO recently estimated the global trade growth for this year at 3.3 percent, 0.7 percentage points lower than that for last year.