COLUMNISTS: Why isn t the White House making free trade more a priority? arkansasonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from arkansasonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Toggle open close
Global trade freedom has fallen for the third straight year and is at its lowest level since 2006. For countries around the world, that means higher tariffs and nontariff barriers than in the past. For families and businesses, it means that trading is more difficult and costly. The downward trend in trade freedom started well before the coronavirus pandemic, but a worldwide combination of pandemic-related business shutdowns and economic struggles has caused global goods trade to contract.
Initially, many countries responded to the pandemic and increased demand for medical goods such as face masks and ventilators with trade measures that restricted the free movement of those products. While many of those measures were eventually removed, they undoubtedly made it more difficult for products to go where they were most needed. Economic recovery discussions in the U.S. and around the world are now focusing on how to prevent such a recession in the future.