The return of "inward-looking" protectionism 

The document speaks bluntly of "inward-looking" (inward-looking) policies: national measures that prioritize domestic market protection, local industry and domestic employment over trade opening and multilateral rules. In practice, this translates into punitive tariffs, non-automatic licences, local content requirements and hidden subsidies that distort global competition.

The sectors that suffer most (and which should be of greatest concern to exporters) 

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala doesn’t save anything 

During the presentation of the report, the WTO Director-General was clear: "

The rise of tariffs and other trade restrictions in the G20 is deeply worrying. We are seeing an accelerated fragmentation of trade that ends up costing consumers and businesses more than the governments that impose them". 

She added, 

"G20 leaders must work to keep markets open and predictable, allowing goods to flow freely and generating certainty that encourages investment and job creation".

Not everything is black: the report also highlights a historic increase in enabling measures 

Although protectionism dominates the headlines, the WTO report recognizes that not everything is bad.

Por primera vez desde 2019, las medidas de facilitación del comercio experimentaron un salto notable: 141 nuevas iniciativas que duplicaron su cobertura hasta alcanzar los 1.904 millones $.

The most significant include temporary reductions in tariffs on medical inputs implemented by the European Union and South Korea, and the implementation of 100% digital procedures in key ports in Asia (Singapore, Busan) and Europe (Rotterdam, Antwerp), which have succeeded in cutting customs time by up to 15 days. 

However, the authors of the report are clear: these positive but welcome measures are insufficient to counter the protectionist wave. The balance continues to tilt dangerously towards restrictions. 

What does this mean in practice for companies? 

«We are seeing an accelerated fragmentation of trade that ends up costing consumers and businesses more than the governments imposing these measures». 

The numbers speak for themselves and should set off all alarms in foreign trade departments: 

• Logistics costs on Asia-North America routes: +18% projected by 2026 according to WTO models.

• Nationalization deadlines: between 12 and 28 additional days in countries that have strengthened non-automatic licenses (Argentina, Brazil, Turkey, India).

• Urgent review of rules of origin: existing contracts should be adapted by 31 December 2025 to avoid tariff surprises.

• The only bright spot: G20 trade in services grew +7.4%, the best since 2021, driven by digitization and artificial intelligence.

The message from Geneva is unambiguous: global trade is moving towards a more expensive, slower and fragmented scenario.  

Those international trade professionals who are not yet mapping alternative routes (nearshoring, friendshoring) with geopolitical allies, reinforcing force majeure clauses and price review in their contracts, will pay dearly from 2026. The time to act is now.