Conference primer - Trade and Economics: 2025

Director-general of the multilateral institution says challenge could be beneficial, but others warn of looming ‘chaos’

Countries hit by Trump's impending “reciprocal” tariffs face a dilemma – between cutting bilateral deals or standing firm and saving the multilateral trading system.

WTO Tariff & Trade Data, an online platform providing enhanced access to official tariff and trade figures for over 150 economies, was launched on 4 March. The database — currently in its beta version for preliminary release —includes bilateral trade datasets, time series views, and reports on export and import patterns by product and trade partner. It was presented to WTO members at an informal meeting of the Committee on Market Access, which defines and administers the dissemination policy of the databases.

Article also available in French
If the US applies reciprocal customs duties and general uncertainty increases, the drop could reach 1.5%.

With global trade under attack from Donald Trump, what role can the WTO play?

Emmanuel Macron said the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is not working and that several countries are breaking away from it, but in Geneva European Trade Commissioner Maroš Sefcovic renewed the EU's commitment to multilateral world trade rules.