Useful Data: WTO Director General Pascal Lamy announced jointly with the OECD a new database calculating the value-added aspects of traded goods and services. Practically since its founding, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and now the WTO have been challenged to refute the perceived benefits of exports but disadvantages of imports. The database provides evidence that more open economies utilize imported inputs to boost export performance. While protected sectors in national economies will continue to argue for import protection, at least there will be more substantive counterarguments available to the broader population.As a sub-note, the data indicates that a relatively lower share of EU exports reflect foreign content,...

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