Trade barriers after Copenhagen?

May 18, 2009

Minister for Foreign Trade Mr Frank Heemskerk today advocated against the idea of trade sanctions against countries that do not agree on climate change measures in Copenhagen. He stated: “It is difficult to see how a trade war would help us to exercise what is a collective global responsibility. And who would we target? China? I doubt whether that is useful. Firms in China, that compete internationally do so because they are energy efficient. It is the non-competitive firms which are dirtiest and they generally cannot export. So what are trade measures supposed to achieve? Punish those firms which have already made the effort?”
Heemskerk says positive measures are much more promising.

From an economic perspective Heemskerk’s remarks are spot on. From a political perspective his positive look on a “post-Copenhagen” situation is well understood. But from my perspective I have yet to see that a “Copenhagen consensus” will be realised. Again lots of people hope that an international agreement is achievable. However, I think a lot of it will depend on the willingness of the West to be realistic and accommodating vis-à-vis the economies of notably the BRIC countries. I hope the level of ‘hot air rhetoric’ will be transcended. The current signals from the US are also “just words”. At the end of the day it is not words but actions that count. Success will mainly depend on the West.

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