World trade has slowed down than first expected. In fact the volume has plateaued over the past 18 months especially when there is the rise in the protectionism globally.

It is become obvious since the US Republican President nominee, Donald Trump, railed against globalization and used the erect of trade barrier to gain support and popularity.

Since January 2015 the volume of goods traded around the world appeared to be stagnant and this is rare in economic history considering that this lasted for 18 months long. This report was based on data collected by the Netherlands Bureau of Economic Analysis.

There are two causes here and the creeping of the protectionism is dragging the world economy is one of the sayings. The other one is the trends of the shortening of global supply chains and the increase of the digital trade.

The IMF and the WTO are warning the protectionist measure that is slowing down the global economy.

But the message from Donald Trump is that he is going to rip the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and his rival and he already oppose the vast new Pacific Rim pact, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) which is awaiting the congressional approval.

The subsidies of local industry have affected the business. The former globalization can lead to localization.