Dan O'Brien: Pace of globalisation picks up, despite the rise of its opponents

US President Donald Trump with Xi Jinping, China’s President. Many of Trump’s concerns over trade were shared by previous administrations Photo: Bloomberg

Dan O'Brien

'Global trade recorded its highest growth rate in six years in 2017, both in volume and value terms." That was the happy opening line of the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) analysis of recent trends in cross-border commerce in its flagship annual trade publication launched last week.

The Geneva-based organisation's latest figures show that last year global exports of goods rose by 11pc to nearly $17.7 trillion.