International Trade Moving from Recovery to Expansion World commodity trade has entered a recovery phase and is gathering expansionary momentum.
International trade shows a trend toward expansion in terms of volume as well.
The primary cause of the recovery in world trade in 1999 was the recovery in trade among developing nations in East Asia. The second most important factor was an increase in imports into the United States resulting from that country's booming economy. Since these factors are continuing into 2000, world trade is expected to remain on its expansion track through the year. The impetus toward concluding regional trade agreements gained strength during the 1990s. As the number of countries participating in regional trade agreements increases, so does the share of the global economy and of world trade represented by parties to these accords.