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| | GEO Business | | World trade volume touches five-year highs | Updated at: 1726 PST, Saturday, September 26, 2009
 NEW YORK: Global trade rose at its fastest rate touching the highs in more than five years in this July.
According to the statistics issued by the Bureau for Economic Policy, a Dutch research institute, showed the volume of world trade rising 3.5 per cent in July after a revised increase of 1.6 per cent in June.
The decrease in the world trade was caused by the decrease in demand; but, the increasing trade ties among the countries can play an important role in stabilizing the world economy.
The rise in volumes was the steepest since December 2003. Tensions have risen, though, as the recession has intensified.
The European Union on Friday imposed anti-dumping duties of nearly 40 per cent on imports of steel pipe from China. The decision, which followed a preliminary ruling earlier in the year, broke ground by imposing tariffs based only on the threat of damage to European groups from low-priced imports rather than requiring them to show actual lost sales.
Policymakers have been concerned that a shortage of trade finance – which assures exporters they will be paid – has contributed to the fall in trade.
At its meeting in April, the G20 group of nations urged multilateral development banks and export credit agencies to increase support for trade finance, since when its cost has come down.
But they remained uncertain over how much of the contraction in trade was caused by expensive financing.
Some officials have also warned that a rising tide of protectionism has the potential to choke off a recovery in trade. But while protectionist actions such as emergency “antidumping” and “countervailing duty” tariffs have risen, the proportion of overall trade they currently affect probably remains small. |  |
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