Non-tariff measures a trade barrier for developing countries’ agricultural processed products exports

The paper analyses the trade barriers that thwart diversification efforts of developing countries into exports of value-added agricultural processed products. It examines the extent to which non-tariff measures act as market access barriers that constrain agricultural processed products exports from developing countries. The analysis shows that the prevalence of non-tariff measures (including domestic non-tariff measures) limit the ability of developing countries to increase their agricultural processed exports. This has important policy implications in terms of the emphasis that trade negotiators and policy planners should place on addressing non-tariff measures both in the domestic and foreign markets.

The Aftermath of Anti-Dumping: Are Temporary Trade Barriers Really Temporary?

A consistent finding in the literature is that anti-dumping (AD) acts as a significant barrier to bilateral trade, in particular, during the time such measures are in force. Adding to a relatively scarce empirical literature, however, we identify adverse impacts of AD which survive well beyond its revocation. More specifically, while we cannot rule out a slight post-revocation recovery, we find empirical evidence that once affected bilateral trade does not fully recover on average following revocation. We use panel data at the Harmonized System four-digit (HS4) level of aggregation to produce these results and show that they are robust to the duration of AD cases, the time of their imposition and revocation, differentiation by economic sector and the nature of imposing countries. Several explanations for our observed empirical results seem plausible, and we provide a theoretical framework which suggests our results could be driven by market exit or underinvestment of targeted firms.

Political–Economic Determinants of External Import Protection under a Preferential Trade Agreement

The stalling of WTO multilateralism and the proliferation of preferential trade agreements in recent decades have drawn substantial attention to the impacts of preferential liberalization. A critical question is how they affect the trade barriers imposed against outsiders. I examine the relationship between preferential trade liberalization and protection against non-member countries by testing the predictions of a political–economy model based on the previous literature. Focusing on a specific model allows me to uncover the mechanisms via which preferential liberalization affects external import protection, whereas most of the existing literature has focused on establishing the sign of the effect only. Furthermore, I focus on not only tariffs, as most studies do, but also on the temporary trade barriers of antidumping and safeguards. I test the predictions for Latin America and obtain results that provide solid evidence supporting two mechanisms from the theory, which lead to lower protection against non-members of a preferential trade agreement. First, a lower preferential import protection level means that the increase in preferential imports from increasing the external tariff creates a smaller increase in tariff revenue. Second, as preferential import protection is cut, there is a decrease in the markup and sales of domestic firms, and thus raising the external import protection generates less profit. Moreover, this second effect is present when the political motivation of the government is sufficiently strong.

A Multi-Phase Assessment of the Effects of COVID-19 on Food Systems and Rural Livelihoods in Tanzania

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 at the end of 2019, the pandemic has brought both social and economic impacts to global communities, although to varying degrees. Since the onset of the pandemic, different regions have responded in various ways by taking different measures to fight the pandemic and its effects. In Tanzania, the first case was recorded on 16 March 2020 and, to contain the spread of the virus, on 17 March 2020, the Prime Minister announced measures including the closure of all education institutions, the suspension of public gatherings and international passenger flights, and mandatory quarantine for individuals entering Tanzania. However, in June 2020, the government announced the easing of the restrictions after observing a significant decrease in the COVID-19 infection rate and, despite a subsequent ‘second wave’ of the virus, the government declined to re-institute movement restrictions. This decision led to the implementation of non-tariff trade barriers which were imposed on cargo carrying grain and other exports to neighbouring countries, especially Kenya. The situation became so bad that diplomatic intervention had to be sought. In order to understand the resulting socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis in Tanzania, data were collected in three waves during mid-July2020, October 2020 and February 2021. This paper presents a synthesis of the results of these three survey rounds.

Dealing with the Barriers in International Trade in Vietnam Today

It’s been considered to be a tough time for the domestic business community in recent years due to the change in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, the outbreak of anti-globalization trend, the US interest rate hike, and the upcoming fourth industrial revolution. Those factors can lead to the reversal of international trade and investment, highly affecting young economies of high attraction, which, as those in Vietnam, consider exports and foreign investment as growth drivers. As the matter stands, a large number of Vietnamese enterprises have been suffering from unfair trade disputes and anti-dumping lawsuits on the way to global integration. That the enterprises lack considerate understanding of commercial legality and the spirit of solidarity to cope with trade barriers leads to such expense. Therefore, the author wishes to evaluate the ability of Vietnamese businesses to deal with the international trade barriers; and thereby make recommendations which could help those enterprises effectively respond to such barriers under the circumstance of global integration.

Trade Policy is Real News: Theory and Evidence

We evaluate the aggregate effects of changes in trade barriers when these changes can be implemented slowly over time and trade responds gradually to changes in trade barriers because firm-level trade costs make exporting a dynamic decision. Our model shows how expectations of changes in trade barriers affect the economy. We find that while decreases in trade barriers increase economic activity, expectations of lower future trade barriers temporarily decrease investment, hours worked, and output. Further- more, canceling an expected decline in future trade barriers raises investment and output in the short run but substantially lowers medium-run growth. These effects are larger when the expected reform is bigger. In the data, we find that countries with more trade growth after the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) rounds decreased investment and hours worked in the years leading to the tariff cuts, as predicted by our model.

Methodological approaches to determining the impact of barriers on international trade

Today, within the framework of the functioning of foreign trade policy, there are two main opposing models: protectionism and free trade. Recently, the situation is developing towards the dominance of the policy of protectionism over the policy of conducting free trade, since there is a continuous increase in the number of non-tariff measures and the manifestation of trade wars. This situation leads to the need for a policy of trade liberalization. Implementing a foreign trade policy aimed at eliminating trade barriers is not a quick process and requires a thoughtful scientific assessment. To analyze the criticality of the situation of the absence of a free trade policy and to reflect its validity, a very wide methodological toolkit is used to study various kinds of trade barriers, ranging from the calculation of the simplest indicators to the construction of complex econometric models. This study provides a comprehensive review of the main methodological approaches to determining the impact of tariff and non-tariff barriers on the international trade activities of countries. In the scientific review work, 4 domestic and 24 foreign sources, formed on the basis of 21 resources, were involved in the search for literature. The results of the review analysis of research papers showed that in the study of tariff and non-tariff barriers, researchers mainly use three econometric models, namely gravity model, partial equilibrium model and general equilibrium model. In addition, the study of non-tariff barriers can be carried out in the context of two other methods besides the econometric one: the implementation of the "price gap" method and the derivation of "incidence indicators".

Trading Away Tariffs: The Operations of the GATT System

Since its formation, the GATT/WTO system has facilitated a worldwide reduction of trade barriers. We return to a founding moment of the regime, the GATT 1947 (GATT47), and look closely at the liberalization process, analyzing exactly what concessions were granted to whom and in return for what. With these data, we evaluate three prominent explanations for the operation of the early GATT. First, we ask whether or not US negotiators granted asymmetric access to the US market to spur post-war recovery. Second, we look at how the rules adopted in GATT47 balanced the interests of import sensitive producers with those of the more nascent exporter interests. Third, we examine specific US concessions and ask whether or not the US used the domestic market to either increase the productive capacity of nations damaged during the war and/or to bolster unstable regimes. Our most general finding is that the US, at least in this first Round of the trade regime, was less a liberal warrior and more a seeker of stability, and that tariff setting was significantly constrained by the institutions governing global tariff negotiations.

ЕКОНОМІЧНА РЕТРОСПЕКТИВА РОЗВИТКУ ТЕОРІЇ ВЕРТИКАЛЬНОЇ СПЕЦІАЛІЗАЦІЇ

We explore the development of vertical specialization theory which is trade in goods across multiple stages of production on the relationship between trade and business cycle synchronization across countries. We study various papers about international trade model in which explores the degree of vertical specialization varying with trade barriers. We examine how and why these vertical specialization models created by economists and compare differences of those models. Since VS one of the most important changes involves the increasing interconnectedness of production processes in a vertical trading chain that stretches across many countries, with each country specializing in particular stages of a good’s production sequence. The purpose of the article is to form a theoretical and methodological basis for an economic retrospective of the development of the theory of vertical specialization. The subject of the research is theoretical and methodological aspects of the economic retrospective of the development of the theory of vertical specialization. Methods used in the study: historical method, methods of verification of theoretical positions (morphological analysis of the content and relationship of categories, principles and laws, assessment of the correspondence of historical facts to theoretical hypotheses), methods of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, logical method (hypothetical and axiomatic approaches), comparison method. Research hypothesis. In the context of global challenges, it is necessary to change the nature of interaction, for which it is necessary to form a theoretical and methodological basis for an economic retrospective of the development of the theory of vertical specialization. Presentation of the main material. Vertical specialization occurs when a country uses imported intermediate parts to produce goods that it later exports. This definition reflects the idea that countries are consistently linked to each other to produce the final good. The fulfillment of the conditions is justified: the product must be produced in several successive stages, two or more countries must specialize in the production of some, but not all, stages, and at least one stage must cross the international border more than once. It is emphasized that vertical specialization occurs when a country uses imported intermediate parts to produce goods that it later exports. Originality and practical significance of the research. The study of the economic retrospective of the development of the theory of vertical specialization includes four interrelated blocks – the theoretical and exploratory basis of interaction, the substantive (paradigmatic and methodological), applied and managerial basis of the interaction of business entities, which will allow comprehensively cover possible aspects of interaction. Conclusions of the study. The article examines the theoretical and methodological basis of vertical trade also connects the growth of international trade with an increase in international production. The forces that have driven increased vertical trade – lowering trade barriers and improving transport and communication technologies – are likely to persist. Thus, we can conclude that the value of VS and vertical trade in world trade will grow from year to year.