Geneva [Switzerland], December 3: The value of global goods imports affected by new tariffs and other import measures increased more than fourfold from mid-October 2024 to mid-October 2025 compared to the prior 12-month period, marking the highest coverage in over 15 years of WTO trade monitoring, according to the WTO Director-General's latest annual overview of developments in the international trading environment.
At the same time, WTO members introduced trade-facilitating measures on both imports and exports, covering one-and-a-half times more trade than the previous period, and were pursuing dialogue more than retaliation.
Imports worldwide worth USD 2,640 billion, or 11.1% of total imports, were affected primarily by tariffs along with other trade measures introduced between mid-October 2024 and mid-October 2025 - more than four times the USD 611 billion coverage recorded in the preceding period. Including similar measures on exports, the total trade affected was worth about USD 2,966 billion (more than three times the USD 888 billion recorded in the previous report).
Over the same period, WTO members and observers also introduced a large number of new trade-facilitating measures on goods - 331 in total - covering trade estimated at USD 2,090 billion (approximately 1.5 times higher than the USD 1,441 billion recorded in the last report).
"The sharp jump in the trade coverage of tariffs reflects the increased protectionism we have seen since the start of the year. Nearly a fifth (19.7 per cent) of world imports are now affected by tariffs and other such measures introduced since 2009 - compared to 12.6% only a year ago," noted WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
WTO economists estimate world merchandise trade growth at 2.4% in 2025 and at 0.5% in 2026, with stronger-than-expected trade growth in the first half of 2025 driven by import frontloading, strong demand for AI-related products, and continuing trade growth among most WTO members, particularly developing economies.
During the review period, WTO members initiated 32.3 trade remedy investigations per month -just below the 2024 peak of 37.3 per month
Source: Emirates News Agency