Protectionism: a real threat or a perceived threat

According to the EU Central Bank: "to date there is no major evidence that actual protectionist measures are increasing, but at the same time there are clear signs that protectionist pressures are on the rise in certain regions of the world (although support for globalisation remains strong in emerging market economies). Given the large welfare loss that a rise in protectionism would entail, this calls for additional vigilance in resisting protectionist pressures worldwide."
Maybe from the EU perspective, the threat of protectionism is just some pressures, exist only in some certain parts of the world, U.S. in particular, from the Chinese perspective, the threat is not only perceived long time ago, but real based on recent development around the world.
EU is cutting imports of bolts and nuts from China; India is closing doors for Chinese toys; America is building walls against Chinese poultry and steel, etc. Perhaps these are just marginal cases, or signs of pressure, but putting together in a non-stoppable way is pointing to a very dangerous water.
As emphasized before, economic stress is turing the view of political landscape. When Europe and the U.S. failed to bailout their economy, the public would grow more anger and animosity against foreign product and worker, come up with more excuses to increase protectionism. The possibility of trade wars is creeping up everyday. It's hypicritical for the EU and U.S. to say one thing and do another inconspicuously, like in the 2009 U.S. federal budget. And hopefully, leaders of the G20 will figure out a compromising way to deal with current trend or pressure towards protectionism, soon...