Trade and Values: Navigating the Intersection of Policy and Principles

The report examines the shift from trade based on economic efficiency to trade used as a tool for advancing values such as human rights and environmental protection. It highlights the friction this creates between developed and developing nations, the complexities businesses face in navigating contradictory market demands, and the geopolitical tension between the US/EU values-driven approach and China's policy of non-interference.

• Governments are increasingly using trade policy and market access to pursue non-trade objectives (NTOs), including climate change, freedom of religion, and Indigenous peoples’ rights. This shift is driven by progressive beliefs, strategic motives, and a desire to address the negative societal and environmental effects of unbridled trade liberalization.
• The integration of values into trade creates significant practical hurdles, specifically the difficulty of establishing universally accepted values and the lack of objective methods to evaluate compliance without the measures being viewed as disguised protectionism.
• Values-based trade policies, such as the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), deforestation regulations, and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), risk disproportionately burdening small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries that lack the resources to document compliance.
• Global businesses face a 'complex terrain' where they must balance legal regulations, contradictory demands from socially conscious consumers across different markets, and internal corporate value systems, often exacerbated by the transparency of social media.
• There is a growing divergence between the US/EU approach of using trade to drive values convergence and China's approach of 'non-interference' in the domestic concerns of other countries. As China's economic significance grows, the influence of the US and EU in promoting their trade values is expected to diminish.
• The trend toward 'friendshoring'—forming trade relationships based on shared values—threatens to fragment the global multilateral trading system and undermine the post-war compact that allowed developing countries to use comparative advantages for economic growth.

APA

World Economic Forum (2024). Trade and Values: Navigating the Intersection of Policy and Principles. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Trade_and_Values_2024.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Trade and Values: Navigating the Intersection of Policy and Principles. 2024. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Trade_and_Values_2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Trade and Values: Navigating the Intersection of Policy and Principles |date=November 2024 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Trade_and_Values_2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2024trade, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Trade and Values: Navigating the Intersection of Policy and Principles}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2024}, month = nov, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Trade_and_Values_2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }