Research Department Working Paper n°48

Trade wars and their labour market effects

Recent years have seen a remarkable reversal in trade liberalization with the significant raises in tariffs on imports among major G20 economies. This working paper discusses the rationale for these policy shifts, provides an overview of recent measures, especially those implemented by the US administration and presents an overview of the estimated effects on employment as currently presented in the literature. The paper also provides an overview of the specific challenges represented by trade in digital services.