World merchandise trade rose 4% in volume...

World merchandise trade rose 4% in volume last year to a record value of $2.45 trillion, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade group said in a report. GATT, a worldwide trade agreement and the secretariat that supervises it, predicted that global commerce in export terms should grow at least as rapidly in 1988 despite the “somber background” of recent stock market declines and other concerns. West Germany was the biggest exporter last year at $294 billion, or 12% of the world total, well ahead of the United States, which sold $253 billion of goods, or 10.3%. Japan was third with $229 billion, or 9.3%. The United States was by far the biggest importer, buying around $424 billion of goods, which was 16.6% of the global total of $2.55 trillion.