Identifying direct, indirect, and knock-on effects through these linkages is a crucial part in assessing the net impacts of a policy change on growth and jobs.

This model has been used in a variety of topical analyses, e.g. highlighting the impact that local content requirements have on trade in intermediate inputs and the development of GVCs.  Modelling results have also shown that countries are worse off when they impose export restrictions, for example on their steel industries and steel-related raw materials, due to the effects this has across critical supply chains. The METRO model analysis has also been used to quantify the sectoral trade impacts of the UK’s exit from the European Union and found that most of the costs would stem from rising technical barriers and diverging regulations. Another METRO analysis of the economic cost of re-localising production found losses in terms of economic performance and not necessarily an increase in stability in the face of economic shocks. A recent application assesses the impact of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, in particular the ban on imports of Russian oil and other potential sanctions, on trade and the wider economy.