UN trade official urges curbs on protectionism to avert double-dip recession

Patricia Francis, Executive Director of the UN International Trade Center, Thursday called on global economic policy makers to oppose and curb trade protectionism to avoid a double-dip recession.

The global economy has begun recovering, but the economic foundation is not solid and trade protectionism is showing signs of rising, Francis said at the World Export Development Forum in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing.

Anti-dumping investigations looked into 230 cases last year, up 11 percent year on year. Meanwhile, anti-subsidy investigations grew to 41 cases, up 193 percent, according to the World Trade Organization.

Francis told Xinhua that it is critically important to maintain an open and free multilateral trading system to boost global trade to assist in the global economic recovery.

Some countries have taken protectionist measures to protect jobs as their economies are recovering slowly, she said. This could trigger trade wars and hurt the economic recovery, she added.

China has become the largest victim of trade protectionism, Yi Xiaozhun, China's vice commerce minister, said at the forum.

China's trade accounted for 9.6 percent of the world's total, but it was the target of 40 percent of global anti-dumping cases and 75 percent of the filings of anti-subsidy cases, Yi said.

The WTO members reported 1,489 non-tariff measures last year, up from 1,272 in 2008. Some nations even imposed carbon tariffs as protectionist measures, but in the name of combating climate change, said Yi.