By Tomasz Gonciarz and Thomas Verbeet

The WTO's non-discriminatory “most-favoured-nation” (MFN) trading principle, whereby WTO members extend any trade advantage granted to one trading partner to all other partners, remains a cornerstone of global trade. More than four-fifths of international merchandise trade is conducted on this basis despite the proliferation of preferential trade agreements and other trade measures, as demonstrated by a recent WTO working paper (https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/reser_e/ersd202502_e.pdf).  

By Theresa Carpenter, Samuel Munyaneza and Ralf Peters at UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

This blog post is based on the original special topic “Tariffs on critical minerals in the electric vehicle value chain” of the World Tariff Profiles 2024.

The shift towards clean energy technologies and electric vehicles (EVs) is gaining momentum as the world seeks to combat climate change. This transition requires increased use of critical minerals, such as cobalt, graphite and lithium, which are essential components of EV batteries. However, the use of escalating tariffs in EV production chains could be a factor preventing developing economies from diversifying their exports and moving up the value chain.

By Tomasz Gonciarz, Thomas Verbeet and Roy Santana

Sports goods trade has seen a massive boost in recent years, with increased spending by a variety of consumers, ranging from fitness fanatics to aspiring Olympic athletes. Since 1996, trade in sports goods has tripled, with annual imports reaching nearly US$ 64 billion in 2022. Over this period, China has emerged as the leading exporter, while the European Union and the United States have become major importers. 

Eric Ng Shing and Roy Santana

Electric vehicles (EVs) are radically transforming the transport sector, redefining the automotive market, and reshaping global trade in transport equipment. By the end of 2023, EVs accounted for more than a third of all car imports in value terms.

By Monia Snoussi-Mimouni, Sandra Avérous

Critical minerals, such as cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel, and rare earths, play a crucial role in the production of clean energy technologies, from wind turbines to electric cars.  Over the past 20 years, annual trade in energy-related critical minerals has increased from US$ 53 billion to US$ 378 billion. However, the high demand for clean technology goods is putting pressure on the supply chains for these minerals. 

By Monia Snoussi-Mimouni, Erik Wijkström and Wolf Meier-Ewert

The first edition of the Vine and Wine World Trade Forum, held earlier this month in Dijon, France, revealed that international trade in wine and vine products has grown significantly over the past two decades.

The market has also become more diversified as consumer tastes have changed. While traditional winemaking economies, such as France, Italy and Spain, maintain their dominance in wine exports, “new world” winemakers, such as Australia, Chile and the United States, are also making major inroads. However, the share of China as an importer has declined following a period of growth, possibly due to global disruptions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

 The WTO's Multilateral Trade Negotiations (MTN) Categories is the product classification system used by the WTO for trade statistics and policy analysis. It allows the use of common terminology for the interpretation of trade trends and to analyse policy measures, such as tariffs. The MTN categories, defined according to the Harmonized System, were recently reviewed and released as a new two-level structure comprising 22 MTN Categories, closely resembling the previously used categories and additional 72 MTN sub-categories to provide more detailed information.