Making Trade Work for Everyone
Nowadays, advocates of protectionism increasingly base their arguments on trade’s adverse distributional consequences. But governments must remember that the potential benefits of trade are far greater, provided they can put in place policies that deliver them more equitably.
WASHINGTON, DC – Protectionism is on the rise in many parts of the world, and the COVID-19 pandemic is only partly to blame. This is hardly a new phenomenon. When I was Indonesia’s trade minister a decade ago, trade liberalization certainly did not have broad popular support.