Global Trade Helpdesk
The one-stop shop from ITC, UNCTAD and the WTO: market stats, tariffs and procedures for one product-market pair on a single page.
Overview
Global Trade Helpdesk is built for the small or medium exporter who does not want six browser tabs open. It is a joint initiative of ITC, UNCTAD and the WTO, and its job is to assemble the essentials for a single product-market pair on one page.
Enter your product and target market once, and it pulls together demand indicators, applied tariffs, documentation requirements, procedures and domestic contact points from the agencies' databases, including Trade Map and MacMap. ITC also runs regular webinars for SMEs on how to use it.
Think of it as an orientation tool rather than a deep research desk. It gets you to a confident first read faster than anything else, and it tells you which of the specialist tools to open next when a question needs more depth.
New to the terminology? Every technical term is explained in our trade glossary, including HS code and rules of origin.
What data you'll find
Market snapshot
Demand and trade-flow indicators for your product in the chosen market, drawn from the same statistics behind Trade Map.
Applied tariffs
The duty your product faces, surfaced from MacMap so you get the tariff without leaving the page.
Requirements and procedures
Documentation, regulatory requirements and the steps involved in getting goods across the border.
Contact points
Domestic authorities and contacts relevant to your export, so you know who to approach for official confirmation.
How to get a first 360-degree read on one product-market pair in 15 minutes
Goal: Get a first 360-degree read on one product-market pair in 15 minutes.
- 01
Enter your product-market pair
Provide your product (by HS code) and your target market once. The Helpdesk assembles everything else around that pair.
- 02
Read the market snapshot
Scan the demand and trade-flow indicators to confirm the market is worth a closer look before you invest more time.
- 03
Open the tariff and requirements tabs
Check the applied tariff and the documentation or regulatory requirements together, so you see cost and compliance side by side.
- 04
Review procedures and contacts
Note the procedural steps and the official contact points you would need to move a real shipment.
- 05
Export your summary
Save the summary as your one-page brief for the pair, then drop into MacMap or Trade Map when a question needs real depth.
Strengths
- The fastest way to orient yourself on a new product-market pair.
- Beginner-friendly, with plain layouts and no statistics background required.
- Authoritative sources: it aggregates ITC, UNCTAD and WTO data.
- One page replaces several separate lookups for a first pass.
Limitations
- Breadth over depth: for serious tariff or statistics work you will drop into MacMap or Trade Map anyway.
- One pair at a time, so comparing ten markets means ten separate passes.
- It is goods-focused, so it is less suited to services trade.
Frequently asked questions
One market at a time is research. All markets at once is a decision.
Global Trade Helpdesk answers tell me about Germany. It is a superb way to understand a single pair.
Market Selection answers a different question: should it be Germany at all? It scores every candidate market at once on your criteria, so you know which pair actually deserves the 15-minute deep dive.
Related guides
ITC Trade Map
The world's reference database for trade statistics: values, volumes, growth and market shares for 220+ countries and every HS product code.
Market Access Map (MacMap)
Look up the tariff any country charges on your product: MFN and preferential rates, quotas, trade remedies and regulatory requirements.
Standards Map
The reference database of voluntary sustainability standards: which certifications matter in your market and what they require.
JTrade Help is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the International Trade Centre. Tool names belong to their owners. Guides are based on public documentation and hands-on use; always check the official site for current features.