Beyond free trade

We must envision an even more liberal world where tariffs are used as instruments, not weapons.

As the rules-based world order has come to an edge, developing countries are trying to understand how trade would work for the global flow of goods and services. Nepal is set to graduate from the Least Developed Country (LDC) category in 2026, which would bring even more challenges in terms of trade and financing. There needs to be a reassessment of the existing strategies for the last three and half decades against the backdrop of a new world ‘disorder’.