An update on world trade during the COVID-19 episode, by Peter A.G. van Bergeijk

Abstract                          

The collapse of world trade in 2020 due to lockdowns in response of the COVID-19 pandemic has fueled a rethinking of globalization with policies being reoriented towards strategic autonomy and local production by means of nearshoring and insourcing. Comparing the impact of the COVID-19 trade shock to the Great Depression, this article focusing on resilience and recovery argues that international value chains and the global trading system have helped to weather the impact of the global unprecedented response to a health shock.

Keywords

World trade, Covid-19, strategic autonomy, insourcing, nearshoring, world trade system.

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