Applied weighted mean tariff rates on all products

The shift away from hyperglobalisation has also been visible in the realm of trade governance. The cumulated number of trade restrictive measures has been increasing to historically high levels among the G20. The European Commission has also reported a record high number of protectionist barriers to trade around the world, reflecting a wider shift from liberal to managed trade. In late 2019, the higher instance of the WTO two-step dispute settlement system ceased to function, following the blockage by the USA of replacement of Appellate Body Members. In 2020, the US administration announced it would attempt to renegotiate US tariff ceilings in the WTO. This could mark a departure from the downward trend in customs tariffs among WTO members after the establishment of the WTO in the mid-1990s and after China joined the WTO in 2001 (see Figure 2). World average applied tariffs declined from 8.57 % in 1994 to 2.57 % in 2017