PARIS - International trade has long been the backbone of the raw materials industry. With supply concentrated and demand widespread, trade is critical for access to industrial raw materials for the green and digital transitions.
However, export restrictions are becoming at once increasingly prevalent and more prohibitive.
Given the high degree of interdependency in the global economy and many countries’ reliance on international trade for access to critical raw materials, the imposition of export restriction on raw materials risks negative spillover effects cascading down global supply chains.
It is therefore important to better understand the motivations of countries using export restrictions, as well as the impact on trading partners and global markets.
The OECD Inventory is a unique, freely accessible, source of qualitative and quantitative data which can serve as a foundation for these efforts.
Key messages
• With supply concentrated and demand widespread, trade is critical for access to critical raw materials for the green and digital transitions. Yet export restrictions have increased more than fivefold over the last decade.
• While export quotas and taxes are the most common measures, export bans – the most
restrictive measures – are increasing and were the most commonly introduced measure in 2022.
• Waste and scrap products and ores and minerals face the highest incidence of export
restrictions, reflecting both industrial policy and environmental considerations.
• More than 20% of trade in certain key minerals for the green transition faced at least one export restriction over 2020-22.
For the full paper, visit: file:///Users/mac/Downloads/5e46bb20-en.pdf
