President Obama's "Buy American" slogan and the announcement of `No tax breaks for companies outsourcing jobs' have sent shivers down the spine of many, especially in the developing countries which are largely dependent on these sectors for their employment.

Though the US President, in his address to the joint session of the US Congress, expressed the need to avoid protectionism, his statement on ending the tax breaks for companies outsourcing jobs did somewhat sow the seeds of protectionism.

Earlier, while presenting a report to the Trade Policy Review Body on recent trade developments associated with the current economic crisis, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy had warned that the increasing use of distortionary measures used by the members would only make the countries more fragile with regard to their economic prospects. "An eye for an eye would make the whole world blind" applies as well for the tit-for-tat protection that runs during the recession. History proves that the increasing use of protectionist measures has pushed many countries from recession into depression.

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