Providing an evaluation of procedures for quantifying the effects of non-tariff barriers, this book examines the theoretical bases for alternative procedures for measuring NTBs effects, and also presents a critical survey of previous studies that utilized these empirical studies.

Why have countries increasingly restricted immigration even when they have opened their markets to foreign competition through trade or allowed their firms to move jobs overseas? In Trading Barriers, Margaret Peters argues that the increased ability of firms to produce anywhere in the world combined with growing international competition due to lowered trade barriers has led to greater limits on immigration. Peters explains that businesses relying on low-skill labor have been the major proponents of greater openness to immigrants. Immigration helps lower costs, making these businesses more competitive at home and abroad. However, increased international competition, due to lower trade barriers and greater economic development in the developing world, has led many businesses in wealthy countries to close or move overseas. Productivity increases have allowed those firms that have chosen to remain behind to do more with fewer workers. Together, these changes in the international economy have sapped the crucial business support necessary for more open immigration policies at home, empowered anti-immigrant groups, and spurred greater controls on migration. Debunking the commonly held belief that domestic social concerns are the deciding factor in determining immigration policy, Trading Barriers demonstrates the important and influential role played by international trade and capital movements.

As tariffs on imports of manufactures have been reduced as a result of multi-lateral trade negotiations, interest in the extent to which existing nontariff barriers may distort and restrict international trade is growing. Accurate and reliable measures are needed in order to address the issues involving the use and impacts of nontariff barriers. This study assesses currently available methods for quantifying such barriers and makes recommendations as to those methods that can be most effectively employed. The authors focus both on the conceptual issues arising in the measurement of the different types of nontariff barriers and on the applied research that has been carried out in studies prepared by country members of the OECD Pilot Group and others seeking to quantify the barriers. Nontariff barriers include quotas, variable levies, voluntary export restraints, government procurement regulations, domestic subsidies, and antidumping and countervailing duty measures. The authors discuss the many different methods available for measuring the effects of these and other nontariff barriers. Illustrative results are presented for industrial OECD countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany, Norway, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Finally, the authors offer guideline principles and recommend procedures for measuring different types of nontariff barriers. Economists, political scientists, government officials, and lawyers involved in international trade will find this an invaluable resource for understanding and measuring NTBs. Alan V. Deardorff and Robert M. Stern are Professors of Economics and Public Policy, University of Michigan.

An international trade text that integrates theoretical and applied methods

This book discusses trade relations and facilitation issues at both the regional and the continental African level, highlighting the increasing business opportunities and challenges that confront Africa in the digital age. It also examines the effects of trade policies and other policy instruments on Africa’s economic development and presents workable policy measures for a more business-friendly ecosystem. Discussing various topics, including trade relations between African countries, African and international trade agreements, and trade liberalization policies, the book appeals to scholars of economics, business and management as well as professionals and policymakers interested in fostering free trade and sustainable business development in Africa.

Mandated standards used for vehicle airbags, International Organization for Standards (ISO) standards adopted for photographic film, de facto standards for computer softwareâ€"however they arise, standards play a fundamental role in the global marketplace. Standards, Conformity Assessment, and Trade provides a comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of the link between standards, product testing and certification, and U.S. economic performance. The book includes recommendations for streamlining standards development, increasing the efficiency of product testing and certification, and promoting the success of U.S. exports in world markets. The volume offers a critical examination of organizations involved in standards and identifies the urgent improvements needed in the U.S. system for conformity assessment, in which adherence to standards is assessed and certified. Among other key issues, the book explores the role of government regulation, laboratory accreditation, and the overlapping of multiple quality standards in product development and manufacturing. In one of the first treatments of this subject, Standards, Conformity Assessment, and Trade offers a unique and highly valuable analysis of the impact of standards and conformity assessment on global trade.

Limits to Free Trade ranges over a wide diversity of relevant issues ranging from international agreements, to regional trade policies, to import trade barriers, to movements for trade reforms. Informed, informative, and strongly recommended for academic library reference and resource collections, Limits to Free Trade is a model of detailed and articulate scholarship. The Midwest Book Review This book explores the growing list of non-tariff trade barriers raised by the US, EU and Japan and assesses the prospects for significant trade liberalization. The author examines the liability of global free trade through a review of the complaints that these three countries raised about each other over a five-year period. He concludes that free trade may be increasingly hampered as barriers are created more rapidly than can be resolved, and that the prospects for significantly strengthening safeguards are limited. These issues are analyzed in the contexts of the major WTO trade agreements and the political economy of decision-making in the US, EU and Japan. The author concludes that the growing problems are endemic to the system and are not amenable to easy remedy. He tackles topics including international agreements, the trade policy processes in the three regions, issues concerning trade practices, import trade barriers in the EU, and prospects for reform. Scholars, students and practitioners in business economics, international business, and international economics will find much of interest in this book.