What are the causes of trade barriers?

The so-called new trade barriers refer to all new non-tariff barriers that hinder the free flow of international goods, including green barriers and social barriers, with technical barriers as its core. Its fundamental feature is to pay attention to things other than commercial interests such as the quantity and price of commodities, and pay more attention to the impact of commodities on human health, safety and environment, which embodies social interests and environmental interests. The measures taken are not only border measures, but also domestic policies and regulations.

It is no accident that new trade barriers appear and continue to strengthen. It is the product of the continuous development of international economy, society and science and technology. The main reasons for the emergence of new trade barriers are: first, social progress and the continuous improvement of people's living standards in developed countries, people's awareness of safety and health has increased unprecedentedly, and people are paying more and more attention to the impact of products on their own health and safety. Second, with the enhancement of environmental awareness, the concept of sustainable development is deeply rooted in people's hearts, and people are increasingly concerned about the sustainable development of the earth and society on which they live. Therefore, it is required that the production and processing of products should not be at the expense of destroying the environment or sacrificing the environment, and that the production of these products should not be at the expense of the health of workers. Third, the use of traditional trade barriers such as tariffs, licenses and quotas will not only be restricted by international conventions and condemned by international public opinion, but also be vulnerable to reciprocal retaliation. Therefore, this provides a huge development space for the development of new trade barriers such as green barriers. Fourth, the proportion of technology-intensive products in international trade is increasing, and the technical problems involved are more complicated, which is easy to form new trade barriers. At the same time, high-sensitivity and high-tech testing instruments provide technical and material conditions for some countries to set up new trade barriers. Fifth, in recent years, due to the weak economic growth of major developed countries, trade protectionism has risen again, and new trade barriers have become a powerful means.

With the emergence and development of new trade barriers, trade barriers are undergoing structural changes. Traditional trade barriers are gradually divided, among which barriers such as tariffs, quotas and licenses are gradually weakened, while traditional trade barriers such as anti-dumping continue to exist for a long time and have a trend of upgrading and strengthening. New trade barriers with technical barriers as the core will exist for a long time and continue to develop, and will gradually replace traditional trade barriers and become the main body of international trade barriers.