Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

The study presents a comprehensive review of developing country trade policies and market access issues as they evolved over the period 1990-2012. The main findings are, first, that applied tariffs as well as traditional core non-tariff measures have declined significantly over time in both developed and developing countries. Second, the instruments of protection used by developed and developing countries are becoming increasingly similar: trade remedies, especially anti-dumping are the instruments of choice for all except low-income developing countries. Third, agriculture is the main sector where developing countries face access problems in OECD markets. Fourth, regional and other preferential trade agreements are both a result and a cause of the lack of progress in multilateral trade negotiations. They violate the basic World Trade Organization tenet of most favored nation and thus pose a potential threat to the multilateral system and a potential stimulus to further multilateral collaboration. Fifth, sanitary and phytosanitary and technical barriers to trade are being increasingly used by both developed and developing countries but their protective intent is difficult to gauge. There is a need for increased vigilance, transparency, and reporting to ensure that they are not being used as a means of protection of economic interests. Sixth, the service sectors are the most promising area where efforts for further liberalization are needed and may produce significant benefits. And seventh, far less additional protection has been put in place following the 2008 financial crisis compared with what had been feared or what had happened in earlier crises.

Developing countries --- International Economics & Trade --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Market access issues --- Merchandise and service trade --- Tariffs and non-tariff measures --- Trade policies --- Trade remedies

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

October 1999 - An analysis of developing countries' current trade policies and market access problems is used as a basis for recommending positions for these countries in the new round of multilateral negotiations under the World Trade Organization. Michalopoulos analyzes 61 trade policy reviews prepared for the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its predecessor, GATT - reviews that document the progress developing countries have made in integration with the world trading system over the past decade. Based on an analysis of post-Uruguay Round tariff and nontariff barriers worldwide, he then recommends developing country positions on major issues in the new round of WTO trade negotiations. His key conclusions and recommendations: Agriculture. Developing countries should support the Cairns Group in its push for greater liberalization of industrial countries' agricultural trade policies; the revised Food Aid Convention is not a substitute for but a complement to worldwide liberalization of agriculture; Manufactures. The existence of tariff peaks and escalation in industrial country markets and the limited bindings at relatively high levels of developing country tariffs on manufactures present opportunities for negotiations with good prospects for shared and balanced benefits. The remaining nontariff barriers in industrial countries that affect manufactures are concentrated in textiles and clothing. Developing countries should ensure that industrial countries implement their commitments to liberalize this sector and impose no new nontariff barriers in this or other sectors under the guise of other rules or arrangements. The remaining nontariff barriers in developing countries should be converted into tariffs and reduced over time as part of the negotiations; Antidumping. The increased use of antidumping measures by high- and middle-income developing countries in recent periods offers an opportunity for balanced negotiations to restrict their use. Reduced use of antidumping measures would increase efficiency and benefit consumers in all countries. But it is unclear whether a supportive climate for such negotiations exists in either industrial or developing countries. This paper - a product of Trade, Development Research Group - is part of a larger effort in the group to identify opportunities for developing countries in the WTO 2000 negotiations. The author may be contacted at cmichalopoulos@worldbank.org.

Agricultural Trade --- Country Strategy and Performance --- Debt Markets --- Developed Countries --- Developing Countries --- Economic Theory and Research --- Emerging Markets --- Export Subsidies --- Export Subsidy --- Exports --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Free Trade --- Imports --- International Economics & Trade --- International Market --- International Trade --- International Trading --- International Trading System --- Law and Development --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Multilateral Trade Negotiations --- Private Sector Development --- Production --- Public Sector Development --- Tariff --- Tariffs --- Trade --- Trade Law --- Trade Policies --- Trade Policy --- Trade Remedies --- World Trade