What is the World Trade Report The World Trade Report is anannual publication that aims todeepen understanding abouttrends in trade, trade policyissues and the multilateraltrading system. What is the 2018 Report about The 2018 World Trade Reportexamines how digitaltechnologies are transformingglobal commerce. It considersthe different ways in whichdigital technologies affectinternational trade and theextent of potential forthcomingchanges, and discusses theconsequences of thistransformation for existing andfuture international tradecooperation. Find out moreWebsite: wto General enquiries: enquiries@wto Tel: +41 (0)22 739 51 11 Contents Acknowledgements and Disclaimer 2 Foreword by the WTO Director-General 3 Key facts and fndings 5 Executive summary 6A. Introduction 141. Technological innovations have shaped global trade 162. A new world in the making 193. Structure of the report 20B. Towards a new digital era 221. The rise of digital technologies 242. How much digitalization 493. Conclusions 59C. The economics of how digital technologies impact trade621. Lower trade costs: opportunities and challenges 642. Changes in trade patterns 803. Quantitative analysis of the impact of new technologies on trade 1104. Conclusions 116D. How do we prepare for the technology-induced reshaping of trade1301. Main opportunities and challenges 1322. How do governments respond 1323. Digital trade and international cooperation 1484. Conclusions 193E. Conclusions 202 Opinion piecesTim Harford, “What else needs to change” 29Wim Naud, “Emerging technologies and the future of African manufacturing”46Avi Goldfarb and Dan Trefer, “How artifcial intelligence impacts international trade”140Robert W. Staiger, “On the implications of digital technologies for the multilateral trading system”150Patrik Tingvall and Magnus Rentzhog, “Is the WTO 3D printing-ready” 158 Anupam Chander, “Enabling and regulating the digital economy”194 Bibliography 204 Technical notes 218 Abbreviations and symbols 223 List of fgures, tables and boxes 225 WTO members 229 Previous World Trade Reports 230 CONTENTS 1 WORLD TRADE REPORT 2018 2 Disclaimer TheWorld Trade Reportand its contents are the sole responsibility of the WTO Secretariat, except forthe opinion pieces, which are the sole responsibility of their authors. The Report does not reflect theopinions or views of members of the WTO. The authors of the Report also wish to exonerate those whohave commented upon it from responsibility for any outstanding errors or omissions. Acknowledgements TheWorld Trade Report 2018was prepared under thegeneral responsibility of Xiaozhun Yi, WTO DeputyDirector-General, and Robert Koopman, Director ofthe Economic Research and Statistics Division. Thisyear the Report was coordinated by Cosimo Beverelliand Emmanuelle Ganne. The authors of the Reportare Marc Bacchetta, Eddy Bekkers, Cosimo Beverelli,Emmanuelle Ganne, John Hancock, Mark Koulen,Andreas Maurer, Jos-Antonio Monteiro, ColemanNee, Roberta Piermartini, Stela Rubinova, ViktorStolzenburg, Robert Teh and Ankai Xu (EconomicResearch and Statistics Division). Other written contributions were provided by MarcAuboin and Michael Baltensperger (EconomicResearch and Statistics Division), and by colleaguesfrom the Agriculture and Commodities Division(Lee-Ann Jackson, Ulla Kask, Cdric Pene, MajdaPetschen, Melvin Spreij, Hanna Vitikkala, ChristianeWolff and Wenjing Wu), the Intellectual Property,Government Procurement and Competition Division(Robert Anderson, Wolf Meier-Ewert, AntonellaMaria Salgueiro Mezgolits, Nadezhda Sporyshevaand Antony Taubman), the Legal Affairs Division(Gabrielle Marceau and Juan Pablo Moya Hoyos), theMarket Access Division (Roy Santana), the Trade inServices and Investment Division (Antonia Carzaniga,Juan Marchetti, Martin Roy and Lee Tuthill). Externalcontributions were received from Anupam Chander(Georgetown University Law Center), Avi Goldfarband Dan Trefler (Rotman School of Management,University of Toronto), Wim Naud (MaastrichtUniversity, UNU-MERIT and IZA – Institute ofLabor Economics), Robert Staiger (DartmouthCollege), and Patrik Tingvall and Magnus Rentzhog(Kommerskollegium). Research inputs were provided by Pamela AnneBayona, Kian Cassehgari Posada, Razi Iqbal, AnmolKaur, Giulia Sabbadini, and Badis Tabarki. Additionalcharts and data were provided by Zhi Wang andFlorian Eberth. Colleagues from the Agriculture and CommoditiesDivision (Lee-Ann Jackson, Ulla Kask, Cdric Pene,Majda Petschen and Melvin Spreij), the DevelopmentDivision (Rainer Lanz), the Information and ExternalRelations Division (Yuri Szabo Yamashita), theMarket Access Division (Roy Santana and XiaobingTang), the Office of the Director-General (AegyoungJung), the Rules Division (Jorge Castro), and theTrade in Services and Investment Division (AntoniaCarzaniga, Juan Marchetti, Martin Roy, Lee Tuthill andRuosi Zhang) provided useful comments on drafts.David Tinline from the Office of the Director-Generalprovided valuable advice and guidance.The following individuals from outside the WTOSecretariat also provided useful comments on earlydrafts of the report: Susan Aaronson, Mira Burri,Anupam Chander, Dan Curiak, Koen de Backer, JeanFour, Torbjorn Fredriksson, Shantanu Godbole,Mario Larch, Douglas Lippoldt, Dennis Novy, BastiaanQuast and Sacha Wunsch-Vincent.Cosimo Beverelli and Emmanuelle Ganne of theEconomic Research and Statistics Division managedthe drafting of the Report. Administrative support wasprovided by Anne Lescure of the Economic Researchand Statistics Division. Further support was providedby Pamela Anne Bayona, Kian Cassehgari Posadaand Carol Kll. Anthony Martin and Helen Swainof the Information and External Relations Divisionmanaged the typesetting of the Report. Helen Swainalso edited the report. Gratitude is also due to thetranslators in the Languages, Documentation andInformation Management Division for the high qualityof their work. 。。。。。。