Trade protectionism measures hurting Asia-Pacific growth While the weak recovery in international trade in 2013 slowed down

export growth in several AsiaPacific countries in the first three quarters of the year, the persisting slowdown in developed economies and limited progress in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha round trade negotiations till the agreement in Bali in December this year, also saw the rise of trade protectionism measures. ESCAP analysis reveals that Asia-Pacific exports and economic growth have been significantly affected as a consequence. The 2013 Year-end Update of the annual ESCAP flagship publication, Economic and Social Survey for Asia and the Pacific, estimates that trade restrictive policy measures have resulted in a total loss of export value of over $62 billion for the Asia-Pacific region in 2012 and 2013. This translates into an over 0.4 per cent loss in regional GDP. The protectionist measures include anti-dumping and countervailing measures, import tariffs, custom procedures and quantitative restrictions among others. Asia-Pacific manufacturing industries have been most affected by these measures, followed by the agricultural sector. Steel, organic chemicals, machinery and mechanical appliances, paper and man-made staple fibres have been the most targeted products under the trade restrictive measures. The impact varies across the Asia-Pacific subregions with East and North-East Asia affected the most with an estimated loss in export value of $33 billion, followed by South-East Asia with $12 billion, North and Central Asia with $11 billion and South and South-West Asia with $6.4 billion. Pacific island developing countries have been least affected. The restrictive trade policy measures are also hurting the poorest Asia-Pacific countries with the Yearend Update estimating that least developed countries (LDCs) in the region would be unable to ship out $500 million worth of exports. Asia-Pacific small island developing States (SIDS) would, likewise, be deprived of $100 million worth of exports. Global export powerhouse China is expectedly the most affected with $13.5 billion worth of exports negatively affected in 2012-13, followed by the Russian Federation and the Republic of Korea. Exports by India, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Bangladesh have also been significantly affected.

Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2013: Year-end Update

Figure: Cost for exports of Asia-Pacific economies of trade protectionism measures, 2012-2013
Panel a: Subregionsandcountrieswithspecialneeds

Panel b: Selectedeconomies

Source: ESCAP 2013.