Africa Resists the Protectionist Temptation. The 5th GTA Report
With the return to economic growth of many industrialised economies in either late 2009 or the first half of 2010, combined with sustained expansions in the emerging market economies, came the hope that protectionist pressures would ease in the world economy through 2010. If anything, the period since our last report was published in January 2010 has been one of the busiest for the Global Trade Alert team.
Nothing short of a mountain of evidence has been uncovered in recent months concerning state measures announced after the start of our reporting window, November 2008. A total of 247 new reports on implemented or announced and pending state measures have been added to the Global Trade Alert database since our last report was published, expanding the total number of reports to 960. This 40% expansion in the GTA's database provides for a more comprehensive assessment of contemporary protectionism and, as this Report makes clear, some of our previous findings have been revised.
Like our two previous reports, the fifth Report also has a regional focus. This time our focus is on Sub-Saharan Africa, whose development significance is evident. What may be less well known is that Sub-Saharan African governments have not resorted to protectionism on the scale of industrialised countries and some developing country peers during the recent global economic downturn. Sub-Saharan Africa is also the recipient of preferential access to the markets of many industrialised countries. This Report contains two papers on the likely reforms to the United States and European Union trade preference regimes and their potential implications for Sub-Saharan Africa. These papers will also be of interest to those following the West's policies towards Sub-Saharan Africa.
Executive Summary
Section 1: Crisis-related Discrimination Against Foreign Commercial Interests
- A Global Overview of Protectionism through to May 2010
Simon J. Evenett
Section 2: Sub-Saharan Africa, Commercial Policy Discrimination and the Global Economic Downturn
- Effects of Post-Crisis Foreign Trade Policy Measures on Economic and Trade Performance in Africa
Eric Kehinde Ogunleye - Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Trade and Economic Policy Making in Africa
Felix Fofana N’Zue - Transforming Africa’s Structure and Composition of Trade after the Global Economic Crisis
Nana Amma Afari-Gyan - Towards More Balanced Trade within the Framework of the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation: The Impact of China on Africa’s Trade
Sarah Jane Danchie - How Much Did Africa’s Top Exports Fall During the Crisis? A Comparison with East Asia and Africa
Martin Wermelinger - US Trade Policy Towards the Least Developed Countries: Are these Countries’ Interests Congruent or in Conflict?
Craig vanGrasstek - Reform of the EU GSP Regime and its Potential Impact on Sub-Saharan Africa
Malwina Nowakowska
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