Impact of non-tariff barriers on trade within the Eurasian Economic Union

How great is the impact of non-tariff barriers on trade in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and how much will internal trade grow if they are eliminated? The Treaty on the EAEU declares removal of non-tariff barriers as a common goal. This article estimates the impact of non-tariff barriers on trade in goods in the EAEU based on 2010–2015 trade data. The empirical approach draws on the Haveman and Thursby disaggregated model. The estimates show that various trade-growth effects can be observed in different trade groups if non-tariff barriers are reduced or fully eliminated. Agriculture and the food industry have the highest growth potential: around 40% growth with a 50% reduction of barriers. The highest growth potential is found for trade between Belarus and Kazakhstan. The most significant effects are observed for member-states that are small in terms of the size of the economy and for which the internal trade share is large.     

非关税壁垒:理论与现实的沿革和变迁

本文研究贸易保护政策与贸易壁垒的缘起,不同历史时期非关税壁垒的作用特点及双重性分析,当代国际贸易壁垒重点的转移趋势,非关税壁垒形式及内容演变对中国参与国际分工和贸易的影响等四个方面的问题.[1]世人崇尚的自由贸易理念是否会忽视不同国家经济社会的不同特质,而坚持此种理念的实际结果又是否会使一些国家受益而使另一些国家受损呢?[2]没有哪一个国家打算用所谓超越国家利益的泛全球化的"道德观"或者"责任感"来一成不变的约束自身的行为.[3]不同的利益群体竭力通过各种方式和渠道表达自身的利益诉求.[4]全球化的经济和"地方化"的政治之间总是存在某种紧张关系的.[5]关键在于认识和掌握某些种政策工具,并在国际认定的框架和程序内熟练合理的借鉴利用.最低的目标应该是使中国的总体贸易保护水平与做法和全球适用通行的接轨.     

中国实施TBT的必要性文献综述

经过关贸总协定/世界贸易组织（GATT/WTO）等国际组织的多年努力,关税水平有了大幅度的削减,与此同时,一些传统的非关税壁垒也被纳入了规范管理行列,使得这些壁垒对本国的进口保护作用日趋下降。作为发展中国家的中国是否应该设置技术贸易壁垒（TBT）,从而保护人们的财产安全,是一个亟待解决的问题。     

理论与实证视角的TBT对进口国经济效应解析

技术性贸易壁垒是当前国际贸易领域一项重要的非关税壁垒措施。关于技术性贸易壁垒对于进出口国的效应分析,可以将其分为短期效应和长期效应两个方面:在短期内技术性贸易壁垒确实能够增加进口国的福利,而如果进口国旨在用这一措施保护国内产业,则长期来看福利效益将难以实现。     

“快速通关”贸易促进效应的实证分析

在低关税的时代,快速通关很可能是打破贸易壁垒,推动国际贸易发展的重要手段。文章从四个方面总结了快速通关对国际贸易的影响机制,并基于2008-2010年113个国家相互之间的出口数据,使用 Heckman两步选择模型进行了实证研究。结果显示,快速通关对贸易参与和贸易规模都有着显著的促进作用,从多个角度进行稳健性检验后,该结论依然成立。快速通关可以通过需求偏好效应、成本效应与全球化生产网络效应和遏制日益强化的非关税贸易壁垒的负面效应,使得多边谈判所形成的关税降低的效应得以真正发挥。此外,文章还发现,自由贸易协定的建立,提升了通关效率与边境管理的透明度,进而提高了国家间的贸易量。文章的研究结论对于理解目前中国建立自由贸易区以及实施在贸易谈判中主导快速通关的措施或建立条款,打破技术贸易壁垒具有重要的意义。     

Green Barriers： Obstacle or Stimulation ？

Most viewpoints in China consider green barrier is one kind of non-tariff barriers imposed by developed countries and is unfair to developing countries. Different from these, this paper points out that green barriers, evolving from the background of sustainable development theory and the principle of environment protection, have positive effect on ideology, international institutional arrangement and innovation stimulation. Demonstrating the rationality of green barriers, the paper puts forward that green barriers should be regarded as the stimulation for technology innovation and industrial restructure rather than obstacles. The best way to surmount the green barriers for Chinese government and enterprises is to implement circular economy and clean production so as to achieve the harmony of trade, environment and economic development.     

动物福利壁垒对我国畜产品贸易的影响及对策

目前在关税大幅度降低和传统非关税壁垒不断被消除并逐步规范的情况下，动物福利正成为新一轮的贸易壁垒。动物福利壁垒将对我国畜产品出口产生一系列的不良影响，如增加企业的出口成本、影响农产品出口等，因此，我们应通过倡导健康的消费理念、制定并完善动物福利立法等措施应对动物福利壁垒。     

论贸易技术壁垒的性质及其经济效应

贸易技术壁垒本身具有针对性和隐蔽性强、一定的合法性以及影响面广等特点，使得贸易技术壁垒成为国际贸易中使用最广泛、效果最显著的非关税壁垒措施之一。无可争辩的事实是：有些贸易技术壁垒措施具有合理性，也为国际贸易发展创造了新的机遇，但也有一些贸易技术壁垒措施从科学技术、卫生、检疫、安全、环保、产品质量和认证等方面入手，披上合法外衣，灵活多变，使得国外厂商难以应付，实际上已经成为推行新贸易保护主义的手段，从而影响着各国经济政策的制定，因而也就直接或间接地制约着国际贸易的发展速度，并在一定程度上影响着国际贸易的商品结构、地理方向，引起不同国家间、集团问的贸易摩擦和冲突。     

新贸易壁垒对策研究(英文)

中国进入世界贸易组织以后,国外将逐步降低对中国设置的贸易壁垒的门槛,进口许可及进口配额等传统的非贸易壁垒也会有所减少,但这并不是说中国的商品就能在国际市场上顺利流通。实际上以技术为中心的新型贸易壁垒正在增加,并将会成为阻碍中国未来国际贸易的最大障碍。而中国缺乏对这一新型贸易壁垒体系的理解,因此当前了解新贸易壁垒的内容意义重大,它有助于中国采取及时、恰当的措施解决新贸易壁垒带来的问题,以适应中国国际贸易的可持续发展。     

Non-tariff barriers to trade in the pacific rim

Abstract. This paper reports the findings of a survey of non-tariff trade barriers (NTBs) that firms in the Pacific Rim region frequently encounter. NTBs are categorized into restrictions on market access, restrictions on personnel movement and transparency of regulatory information. We find that NTBs seem particularly prominent for the region, given the diverse character of the economies there. Many NTBs are implicit in the sense that they restrict trade by cumbersome administrative procedures and by various problems arising from interpreting or implementing government regulations. We further find that NTBs have a significant impact on firms’ production costs, revenue and expansion plans.     

Trade liberalisation and exchange rate pass-through: the case of textiles and wearing apparels

Studies on the relationship between exchange rates and traded goods prices typically find evidence of incomplete pass-through, usually explained by pricing-to-market behaviour. Although economic theory predicts that incomplete pass-through may also be linked to the presence of non-tariff barriers to trade, variables reflecting such a link is rarely included in empirical models. In this paper, we estimate a pricing-to-market model for Norwegian import prices on textiles and wearing apparels, controlling for non-tariff barriers to trade and shift in imports from high- to low-cost countries. We apply the cointegrated VAR approach and develop measures of foreign prices based on superlative price indices (including the Törnqvist and Fischer price indices) and a data calibration method necessary to approximate relative price levels across countries. Our measures of foreign prices thereby account for inflationary differences and varying import shares and price level differences (known as the China effect) among trading partners. We show that these measures of foreign prices, unlike standard measures used in the pricing-to-market literature, are likely to produce unbiased estimates of pass-through. Once the China effect is controlled for, we find little evidence that pass-through has changed alongside trade liberalisation.     

Tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade in Hungary: The impact of the Uruguay Round and EU accession

International trade has featured prominently in Hungary's rapid transition to a market economy. This paper reports some relatively simple summary and complementary indicators for tariffs and non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to trade, which are designed to reflect the level and structure of tariffs and the scope of NTBs in Hungary. The existence of tariff 'spikes' and highly pervasive NTBs in certain sectors constitutes prima facie evidence that the domestic dead-weight efficiency and net welfare losses caused by tariff and non-tariff protection as well as the costs to consumers could be high. The indicators are used to highlight several key developments associated with Hungary's transition to a market economy, implementation of the Uruguay Round (UR) agreements and possible accession to the EU.     

中国木制品出口面临的技术性贸易壁垒及对策

技术性贸易壁垒已成为中国木制品出口面临的主要非关税壁垒之一.本文分析了中国木制品出口面临的技术性贸易壁垒,主要包括绿色技术标准、各类认证制度和知识产权问题.提出了建立木制品出口的预警机制;加强木制品技术标准的建设工作,积极采用国际标准和发达国家标准;企业应努力提高科技水平,及时调整产品结构,研制和使用环保产品等对策和建议.     

国际金融危机下的新贸易保护主义以及应对

贸易保护主义的新形式下,资本主义国家通过发挥非关税壁垒的屏障功能、操纵货币汇率、使用行政和法律手段干预国际贸易,因此,新贸易保护主义具有名义上的合理性、形式上的欺骗性、手段上的隐蔽性等特点。政府应该加强宏观调控,发挥行业协会的协调监督职能,提升出口企业的市场主体功能以应对新贸易保护主义。     

西方国家实施TBT对我国商品出口的影响

新贸易保护主义抬头,西方国家纷纷实施TBT这一效果最显著的非关税壁垒措施限制其它国家尤其是发展中国家的产品出口,这严重阻碍了世界经贸的健康发展.TBT不但是目前我国千方百计扩大出口面临的重大挑战,而且由于经济发展水平低、出口商品结构和档次仍较为落后及国内没有建立自己有效、强有力的TBT体系等因素的影响,在我国积极发展对外经贸事业的今天,技术标准、包装和标签、商品检疫和检验以及环境壁垒等TBT具体措施已严重制约着我国机电、轻工、纺织品、食品土畜产品等出口商品的竞争力,阻碍我国对外经济贸易尤其是出口贸易的发展.     

A NOTE ON THE AGGREGATION BIAS IN CURRENT PROCEDURES FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF TRADE BARRIERS

For purposes ranging from practical commercial policy matters to the testing of theoretical trade models, economists have utilized aggregate data relating to tariffs and non-tariff barriers (NTBs) across countries. However, the statistics employed in these analyses are generally derived using aggregation procedures which are based on weights relating to trade that occurs under restrictions. While it is recognized that this approach incorporates a bias in the resulting averages, due to the fact that the products facing the highest tariffs or NTBs enter the calculation with relatively low (actual) trade weights, little information is available for quantifying the magnitude of this bias. This study provides such empirical evidence and also proposes indices that overcome some shortcomings of the traditional measures.     

Evidence and explanation for the Tariff-lobbying paradox: endogenous Tariffs fall as protectionist lobbying rises

Recent empirical evidence suggests that U.S. protectionist lobbying expenditures rose while U.S. trade barrier fell. We find that the same result holds in our panel data sample from 28 countries between 1995 and 2011. We find two economic drivers cause the paradox between increasing protectionist lobbying and decreasing trade barrier. First, trade barriers decline as country capital-labour ratio endowments rise because of the rising political and economic power of capital that lobbies for free-trade. Second, factor intensities in production become more similar as factor-intensity convergence. This flattens the production possibility curve between exportable and import-competing production so that changes increased magnification in both factor rewards. In our panel, the magnification parameters are twice as high for capital as for labour (8.6 vs. 5.1). And, the elasticity of the capital return with respect to country capital-labour factor endowment ratios (.59) is nearly twice those of labour (.22). Increased magnification causes thus labour’s increased lobbying for protection to be more than offset by increased capital lobbying against protection. In short, while an increasing labour lobbies for protection as countries advance, combined tariff and non-tariff protection (OTRI) decline significantly as advanced countries get richer. This explains the tariff-protectionist-lobbying paradox.     

Trade openness and economic growth: Bayesian model averaging estimate of cross-country growth regressions

In this paper, we investigate the robustness of the relationship between trade openness and long-run economic growth over the sample period 1960–2000, utilising Bayesian model averaging techniques to account for model uncertainty issues in a systematic manner. We find no evidence that trade openness is directly and robustly correlated with economic growth in the long run. We further check the robustness of this finding by employing a battery of proxies for trade openness, namely, current openness, real openness, the fraction of open years based on the Sachs and Warner (1995) criteria and the weighted averages of tariff rates, non-tariff barriers and the black market premium. The main result is robust to the inclusion of different trade openness proxies and none of the proxies is robustly associated with economic growth. The data evidence also indicates that economic institutions and macroeconomic uncertainties such as those induced by high inflation and excess government consumption are key factors in explaining economic growth.     

Trade – A Catalyst for Peace?

The trade regime agreed in the Paris Protocol was determined by political rather than economic considerations. It failed to create a level playing-field between Israeli and Palestinian producers, because of Israeli non-tariff barriers and the lack of provision for external arbitration of disputes between parties with unequal powers. The novel element in the agreement of the three lists of specified goods generated uncertainties and conflicts, as well as some side benefits for the Palestinian Authority. The arrangements for the clearance of import and other taxes to the PA were complex and conflict-generating. Recommendations are made for improvements in future agreements.     

Protection for sale with imperfect rent capturing

Abstract .  Grossman and Helpman (1994) explain tariffs as the outcome of a lobbying process. In most empirical implementations of this framework protection is instead measured using non-tariff barriers. Since tariffs allow the government to fully capture the rents from protection, while non-tariff barriers do not, the existing parameter estimates of the protection for sale model are likely to be biased. To address this problem, we augment the framework by considering instruments that allow partial capturing. Our specification is supported by the data, where we find that only 72–75% of the rent from protection is appropriated by the government.