Europe fettered - the impact of crisis-era trade distortions

Has Swedish exports of goods been held back due to trade barriers introduced since the financial crisis? According to this report, the answer is yes in relation to China but no in relation to the United States and Japan. Trade within the EU does not seem to have been affected much by trade barriers or trade distortions introduced globally since the financial crisis.

According to the study, Sweden's export growth compared with China's would have been six percentage points higher in the absence of trade measures (liberalizing and distorting) introduced between 2009 and 2014. When the authors compare with Japanese and US export trends, Sweden's exports growth would have been roughly the same if the measures had never been imposed. Sweden's exports to countries outside the EU were thus held back in the range of 0-6 percentage points during the 2009-2014 period.

The report is commissioned by the National Board of Trade Sweden and written by Professor Simon Evenett and Dr. Johannes Fritz of the University of St. Gallen.