Trade Protectionism on the Rise across the World

It has been found that approximately 25% of international trade protection measures since the recent global financial crisis targeted South Korea.

Last year, South Korea recorded total exports of US$526.9 billion, ranking sixth behind China, the United States, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands. The ongoing global economic recession and low oil prices caused a year-on-year reduction in export volume but its global market share rose based on lower export unit prices.

At present, exports account for approximately 40% of South Korea’s GDP. With advanced economies increasingly resorting to trade protectionism these days, the South Korean economy is in the face of a daunting challenge.

G20 countries brought a monthly average of 21 trade restrictions into effect between October last year and May this year. This average figure is the highest ever since the WTO’s records related to this matter began. The United States brought no less than 90 trade restrictions into effect last year to top the list.

Since the recent global financial crisis, a total of 4,000 or so trade protection measures have become effective and about 1,000 of these have aimed at South Korea. Under the circumstances, experts point out that South Korea’s efforts that have resulted in 52 free trade agreements might end in vain.