China is among the countries that have raised the barriers to trade over the past 13 months, according to the European Commission’s 11th Report on potentially trade-restrictive measures. In the 13 months covered by the report, G20 members and other key EU trading partners adopted a total of 170 new trade-unfriendly measures. Just four countries accounted for 50% of all measures, in decreasing order: Russia (32 measures), China (23), India (16) and Indonesia (14). At the same time, only 12 pre-existing trade barriers have been removed. This means that hundreds of protectionist measures adopted since the beginning of the economic downturn continue to hamper world trade, despite commitments made at the G20 meetings.
