A fifth of world imports are now affected by tariffs: WTO

New Delhi: Imports worldwide worth $2,640 billion, or 11.1% of total imports, were affected primarily by tariffs along with other trade measures introduced between mid-October 2024 and 2025, more than four times the $611 billion coverage recorded in the preceding period, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said Tuesday.

“Including similar measures on exports, the total trade affected was worth about $ 2,966 billion (more than three times the $888 billion recorded in the previous report),” said the WTO Director-General’s latest annual overview of developments in the international trading environment.

The US imposed tariffs on most of its trade partners earlier this year, ranging from 10-41% with those on India doubled to 50% in August due to its energy purchases from Russia.


As per the report, over the same period, WTO members and observers also introduced a large number of new trade-facilitating measures on goods - 331 in total - covering trade estimated at $2,090 billion (approximately 1.5 times higher than the $1,441 billion recorded in the last report).

“The sharp jump in the trade coverage of tariffs reflects the increased protectionism we have seen since the start of the year. Nearly a fifth (19.7%) of world imports are now affected by tariffs and other such measures introduced since 2009 - compared to 12.6% only a year ago,” said WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and WTO members to use the current trade disruptions to advance long-overdue reforms of the WTO.

The multilateral trade watchdog expects world merchandise trade growth at 2.4% in 2025 and at 0.5% in 2026, with stronger-than-expected trade growth in the first half of 2025 driven by import frontloading, strong demand for AI-related products, and continuing trade growth among most WTO members, particularly developing economies.