6 Jul 2020


'Can It Get Any Worse?' Commentary by Peter Van den Bossche in the June 2020 edition of the SIEL Newsletter

In his capacity as President of the Society of International Economic Law (SIEL), Peter Van den Bossche, Director of Studies of the WTI, wrote a commentary on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy and international trade.

Sneak peak:

"The WTO Secretariat expects that in 2020 the volume of international trade will decline by between 13 and 32 per cent, and will thus fall by (much) more than during the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-9. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only disrupted our lives and kept us locked up, but has obviously and not surprisingly also severely affected the global economy and international trade. While some countries are now lifting, or have already lifted, the most stringent restrictions and lockdown measures imposed to address the pandemic, in many other countries the pandemic still rages. The COVID-19 health crisis is likely to affect international trade for a long time to come."

Click here to read Peter Van den Bossche's full commentary.