W.T.O. Warns of Global Trade Slowdown in 2012 PARIS - The World Trade Oganization warned Thursday that international trade would grow by only 3.7 percent in 2012 after decelerating sharply last year, suggesting the global economy is losing steam. "More than three years have passed since the trade collapse of 2008-09, but the world economy and trade remain fragile," Pascal Lamy, the W.T.O. director-general, said in a statement. The further slowing of trade expected in 2012 shows that the downside risks remain high. We are not yet out of the woods. Trade volume grew by 5.0 percent in 2011, less than half the 2010 pace of 13.8 percent growth, the organization, which is based in Geneva, said in its annual report on international trends. That was below the long-term average 6.0 percent growth in global trade over the period 1990-2008. Part of the 2011 deceleration resulted from the damage to Japanese export industries after the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the northeast coast of Honshu last March. Trade was also hurt by the civil war in Libya, which hit oil supplies, and flooding in Thailand that disrupted supply chains. The value of global merchandise trade rose 19 percent in 2011 to a record to $18.2 trillion, topped up by higher commodity prices. That was well above the previous high, set in 2008, of $16.1 trillion. The developing world, mostly the so-called BRIC countries, raised its share of global trade, contributing 47 percent of exports and 42 percent of imports, the highest ever recorded in data that extends back to 1948. Exports from the United States rose a strong 7.2 percent, while imports rose 3.7 percent. China's exports gained 9.3 percent, while its imports grew by 9.7 percent. W.T.O. economists made their 2012 forecast based on the assumption that the global economy will expand by 2.1 percent this year, down from 2.4 percent in 2011. They warned of "severe downside risks for growth that could have even greater negative consequences for trade if they came to pass." They cited the European debt crisis, oil prices and geopolitical risks as being of particular concern. The organization's economists forecast that global trade volume will recover to 5.6 percent growth in 2013.