Ten “Quick Wins”
for More Equitable Trade

Apparel manufacturing is one of the top five biggest industries by global employment in 2021 according to IBISWorld. Because apparel manufacturing requires a low capital investment, many developing countries have been able to attract investment through providing a readily available supply of workers. However, the apparel industry has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the closure of garment factories in developing countries and resulting loss of jobs. This has led to calls from the American Apparel and Footwear Association to increase vaccine distribution to partner countries.

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, while many governments took trade-restrictive steps to protect domestic supplies, numerous other governments adopted trade-facilitative measures to ensure the free flow of life-saving goods. Such measures, among many others, included moving away from paper-based customs processes and enhanced transparency of customs information.

The apparel industry is one of the most women-dominated industries in the world. Over 70% of the workers in China (the world largest apparel manufacturer), 85% of the workers in Bangladesh, and 90% of the workers in Cambodia are women. In many developing countries, the footwear industry and agriculture sectors employ a majority of women as workers.

Agriculture is an important component of the economy for many developing countries and contributes to food Agriculture is an important component of the economy for many developing countries and contributes to food security and climate resilience. Women contribute significantly to global food production, including as subsistence farmers. A 2011 study by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that women represent more than 40% of the world’s agricultural workforce. Yet if women farmers had the same access to agricultural resources as men, yields on women’s farms would increase by 20- 30% and agricultural production in developing countries would rise by 2.5-4%.

Inclusivity in trade policy-making in essence aims to ensure that all individuals and groups can have input into the decision-making process. Where a decision may impact women directly, it is clear that women should be stakeholders in the process. Increasingly, economic research highlights that diversity in participation throughout the policy-making process improves economic outcomes. In trade, gender inclusivity may take different forms for the WTO. They include increasing the representation of women in trade negotiations; increasing the focus on trade-related gender issues; including specific gender chapters in trade policy documents and agreements and ensuring their implementation; establishing minimum standards for engaging women in core policy work across the WTO membership; and increasing the participation of women researchers and experts in the trade policy process.

Trade in services has grown exponentially in recent decades, and services play an increasing role in employment, economic output, and trade in countries at all levels of development. According to WTO estimates, services value-added accounts for close to a half of all world goods and services trade, thus playing a crucial role in global value chains.

The efficiency of trade policy depends on how well trade parameters and trade constraints are incorporated into its design. This meansthat to have a trade policy that has a positive effect on gender disparities, there needs to be appropriate data and an understanding of the effect of certain policies in particular circumstances.

It is well documented that women tend to not only participate less in international trade, but also have lower access to skills, education, finance, networks, and markets. By targeting women’sinclusion in international trade, we can generate systemic change that can help flip the socio-economic disadvantages women currently face. Aid for Trade is one of the key international tools that aids trade inclusion globally. Ensuring that there is a mandatory share of Aid for Trade going to programs focused on women in trade will create a higher and more sustainable impact of these programs for women around the world.

Women are underrepresented in trade. Globally, only one in five exporting firms is led by women. Such businesses are typically small, and face considerable impediments including: disproportionately high market access barriers; cultural, social and legal hurdles; and capacity challenges. In effect, women do not enjoy a level playing field in trade.

In 2018, a conversation between two trade experts on Twitter served as the catalyst for the TradeExperettes. Commenting on an article in a prominent American newspaper that cited a dozen experts on trade policy, they noted both a lack of diversity and women’s participation. This evolved into an exciting global conversation within the trade community where many had observed or experienced the same phenomenon. This prompted “Trade Twitter” to spotlight their “Awesome + Female + Trade + Experts = #TradeExperettes” colleagues, resulting in the collection of 150 names of women trade experts within the first 24 hours. It was the unfolding of this event that led Hanna Norberg, a Swedish economist and independent trade policy advisor, to start the TradeExperettes.