WTO: Global goods trade rebound continues, with caveats

The fourth quarter of 2020 showed a strong rebound in global merchandise trade, the World Trade Organization said this week, but the data suggest that momentum could be hard to sustain. The WTO Goods Trade Barometer reading on Thursday was 103.9, up from 100.7 in November and significantly better than the mid-2020 downturn – the rating was 84.5 in August, the lowest ever recorded. A reading of 100 is the baseline and shows trade expansion “in line with medium-term trends.”...