Rough Trade

"Later this month, trade may have its day in the spotlight when, if all goes according to plan, Congress passes the long-pending U.S. free-trade agreements with Korea, Colombia, and Panama. Then the press of more immediate concerns unemployment, spending are likely to consign trade to the attic once again...

But that could prove easier said than done. In the first half of 2011, governments took 134 actions that discriminated against foreign commercial interests, according to the Global Trade Alert, an assessment of trade actions coordinated by the Centre for Economic Policy Research, a London think tank. If experience proves any guide, said Simon J. Evenett, coordinator of the trade alert, the totals will be substantially increased over time as more evidence of such protectionism surfaces...."

Rough Trade