As shown in the next slide, global value chain participation, as measured by the share of foreign value added in world exports, increased substantially during this period. It is quite plausible that the process of increased fragmentation of production across borders is subject to “diminishing returns” and has its natural limits.
Consistent with this notion, the trend toward greater product fragmentation has slowed in recent years. 6  See, for example, European Central Bank (2016), Hoekman (2015), Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (2016), and Lewis and Monarch (2016). -6-  Finally, of course, China looms large in any discussion of the global trade slowdown.