#tradeXpresso: the value of global #regulatory cooperation we all missed, while talking about #trade wars @wto @NOIweala @VDombrovskis @WeyandSabine @DRedonnet @ignaciobercero @MiriamGarciaFr @Trade_EU @CEPS_thinktank @ChadBown https://www.ceps.eu/ceps-publications/multilateral-cooperation-behind-the-trade-war-headlines/ https://twitter.com/Lucian_Cernat/status/1358010459325136897

Short summary thread: we all focussed on Trump, trade wars and tariffs but, in reality, there's been a steady growth in the number of behind-the-border technical barriers to trade, from around 500 per year in 1996 to over 3,000 per year since 2018

Avoiding future TBTs facilitates global trade for EU and other WTO members. Due to data & methodological problems, the trade value is hard to estimate. Yet, we find that €83 billion of EU exports were facilitated by successful WTO TBT Committee actions over the past decade!

While the @wto #TBT Committee is almost as suspenseful #SuperBowl, here are the real winners (apart from #GoBucs )

Bottom line: TBTs are very costly. The average ‘tariff equivalent’ of such TBT barriers can be up to 19%. As bad as a trade war! But harder to fight. In our post-Covid recovery efforts, @WTO members should keep their eyes on the TBT ball!

Last but not least, David Boucher (my co-author) will finish his internship with @Trade_EU soon, and he’ll be on the job market! Je dis ça, je dis rien...