you are currently viewing::WTO-Trade imbalances and the limits of trade policyJuly 31, 2025--Trade imbalances have long been a concern for policymakers, prompting calls for corrective trade measures. Recent tariff actions- framed in part as efforts to reduce bilateral deficits -fit this established pattern. Notable precedents include the United States-Japan trade tensions of the 1980s and the global imbalance debates following the 2008 financial crisis. The connection is not merely anecdotal: empirical research shows that trade imbalances, particularly at the bilateral level, are strong predictors of trade action. Interpreting trade imbalances From an economic perspective, trade imbalances are not necessarily problematic. Sectoral imbalances arise from specialization: a country with a comparative advantage in services may run a surplus in services and a deficit in goods. Aggregate imbalances, in turn, reflect differences between national saving and investment. If a country invests more than it saves, the additional investment goods must come from abroad. From this perspective, trade imbalances are not signs of dysfunction, but channels through which economies realize the gains from trade, across sectors and over time. While trade imbalances can therefore reflect healthy economic forces, they are not immune to policy distortion. Tariffs can alter sectoral trade patterns, reducing the deficit in a targeted sector at the expense of other sectors. They can also distort bilateral flows, narrowing the deficit with a targeted partner while widening it with others. Industrial policy, now central to many policy debates, can have similar effects. Long-run broad-based industrial policy intervention can significantly influence the allocation of resources across sectors, often promoting tradable manufacturing over non-tradable services. Source: World Trade Organization (WTO) |
October 29, 2025-Issued on behalf of GoldHaven Resources Corp.
Prices have surged over 25% since early 2025[1], with the precious metal holding near the $4,000 per ounce level as investors pile into safe-haven assets amid ongoing inflation and economic uncertainty.
October 29, 2025-Global commodity prices are projected to fall to their lowest level in six years in 2026, marking the fourth consecutive year of decline, according to the World Bank Group's latest Commodity Markets Outlook.
Inflationary Pressures Ease, But Geopolitical Tensions Cloud Outlook
October 14, 2025-- While the near-term forecast is revised up modestly, global growth remains subdued, as the newly introduced policies slowly come into focus
The global economy is adjusting to a landscape reshaped by new policy measures. Some extremes of higher tariffs were tempered, thanks to subsequent deals and resets. But the overall environment remains volatile, and temporary factors that supported activity in the first half of 2025-such as front-loading are fading.
September 25, 2025-The industry's first licensed institutional-grade index token will be available to trade on Kraken
Reserve, the industry's leading platform for DTFs (Decentralized Token Folios), has announced the Large Cap Index DTF (LCAP), in partnership with CF Benchmarks, the UK FCA-regulated crypto index provider behind BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF.
September 22, 2025-Global central banks have purchased over 1,000 tonnes of gold annually for the last three years, representing a dramatic acceleration from the 400-500 tonne average of the preceding decade, according to the World Gold Council[1].
September 17, 2025-The 2025 edition of the World Trade Report reveals that, with the right enabling policies, artificial intelligence (AI) could boost the value of cross-border flows of goods and services by nearly 40% by 2040 thanks to productivity gains and lower trade costs.