Global use of trade restrictions slows, WTO says

More steps to free up trade globally have been taken since Donald Trump

was elected than measures to restrict it, the World Trade Organization

said, despite concerns his administration would introduce a raft of

punitive rules to protect US jobs.

The WTO's global monitoring report, debated at a trade policy review on Monday, covers October 2016 to May 2017.

"The

report shows an encouraging decrease in the rate of new

trade-restrictive measures put in place – hitting the lowest monthly

average since the financial crisis," WTO Director-General Roberto

Azevêdo said in a statement.

The semi-annual report, largely coinciding with the

period since the election of US President Donald Trump, showed that the

164 WTO members put 74 new restrictive measures in place, including

tariffs, customs regulations and quantitative restrictions, with an

impact of 49 billion US dollars of trade.

At the same

time, they took 80 steps to help trade, such as cutting tariffs or

simplifying customs procedures, affecting a much bigger 183 billion US

dollars of trade.

Trade-restrictive steps peaked at 22 per month in 2011, roughly twice the level in the period of the latest report.

During

the period under review, the US introduced new restrictions including a

provisional duty on Canadian softwood lumber, suspecting it of being

unfairly priced.

It also brought in "Buy America"

provisions to ensure that, subject to some conditions, state loan funds

are not used for water infrastructure projects unless all the steel used

in the project was produced in the US, the WTO report said.

Key findings:

Trump had also liberalized trade by scrapping broadband

privacy rules, allowing Internet service providers to commercialize user

data without explicit permission from the US Federal Communications

Commission, the report said.

China had introduced new

restrictions with a cybersecurity law, requiring data generated in

China to be stored in China, and a film production law, requiring

Chinese movies get two-thirds of the screen time at Chinese cinemas.

But

it also eased approval requirements for foreign-owned banks to invest

in Chinese banks and to supply some investment banking services in

China, the WTO report said.