Geopolitical tensions are changing trade flows as countries switch supply chains to allies rather than the most efficient exporter, the World Trade Organization has said.
The value of traded goods and services continues to rise, but it is growing faster within allied blocs than as a whole, the Geneva-based organisation said in its annual world trade report, warning this would lead to higher costs and more conflict.
“The post-1945 international economic order was built on the idea that interdependence among nations through increased trade and economic ties would foster peace and shared prosperity,” WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in the report, published on Tuesday.