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Chapter 9Chapter 9The Political Economy of Trade PolicyThe Political Economy of Trade Policy
Udayan Roy
International Economics: Theory and PolicyInternational Economics: Theory and Policy, Eighth Edition
by Paul R. Krugman and Maurice Obstfeld
Slide 9-3
Introduction
Some gain and some lose from free trade. But the gains exceed the losses; free trade maximizes national welfare (i.e., total surplus).
Yet most governments restrict trade in some way or other.
Why don’t governments listen to economists’ cost-benefit calculations?
Should they?
Slide 9-7
The Cases for Free Trade I
Slide 9-8
The Cases for Free Trade I
However, because tariff rates are already low for most countries, estimated benefits of moving to free trade are only a small fraction of national income for most countries.
So, this argument has become less persuasive, now that tariffs are already significantly lower than before.
Slide 9-9
The Cases for Free Trade I
9-10
The Cases for Free Trade (cont.)
Yet when quotas are used instead of tariffs, costs can be magnified through rent seeking.• To seek quota licenses or the rights to sell a restricted
number of imports and the profit that they will earn, individuals or institutions need to spend time and other resources.
Thus, another reason why trade allocates resources efficiently is that it avoids the loss of resources through rent seeking.
Slide 9-11
The Cases for Free Trade I
And for some countries in some time periods, the estimated cost of protection was substantial.
Slide 9-12
The Cases for Free Trade I
Slide 9-13
• In the case of increasing returns to scale, bulk production reduces per unit costs.
– This benefit from bulk production is called scale economies.
• Protected markets in small countries do not allow firms to exploit scale economies.
– Example: In the auto industry, an efficient scale assembly should make a minimum of 80,000 cars per year.
– In Argentina, under a protectionist regime in 1964, 13 firms produced a total of 166,000 cars per year.
• In the presence of scale economies, free trade makes more varieties available and at lower prices.
The Case for Free Trade II
Slide 9-14
The Case for Free Trade III
Free trade enables an inventor to sell to a larger market. As a result, free trade provides a stronger incentive for innovation.
Slide 9-15
A political argument• Free trade is the best feasible political policy, even though
there may be better policies in principle
• Trade policies that single out certain industries for protection from imports are in practice dominated by special-interest politics rather than consideration of national costs and benefits.
The Case for Free Trade IV
Slide 9-16
There are two theoretical arguments against the policy of free trade:• The terms of trade argument for a tariff
– We have seen this one before!
• The domestic market failure argument
National Welfare Arguments Against Free Trade
Slide 9-17
The Terms of Trade Argument for a Tariff• For a “large” country, a tariff lowers the price of
imports. – This benefit of a tariff is called a terms of trade benefit.
• It is possible that the terms of trade benefits of a tariff outweigh its costs.
– Therefore, free trade might not be the best policy for a large country.
National Welfare Arguments Against Free Trade I
Slide 9-18
Terms of Trade Argument for a Tariff
Weaknesses• The argument doesn’t work for small countries
• Even if a large country benefits from a tariff, that benefit will come at the expense of other countries.
– The world as a whole would be worse off
– This would invite retaliatory tariffs, in which case the tariff might hurt everybody
Slide 9-21
The Domestic Market Failure Argument Against Free Trade• Consumer and producer surplus ignore the social costs
and benefits of domestic market failures such as:– Unemployment or underemployment of labor
– Technological spillovers from industries that are new or particularly innovative
– Environmental externalities
• A tariff may raise welfare if there is a marginal social benefit to production of a good that is not captured by producer surplus measures.
National Welfare Arguments Against Free Trade II
Slide 9-22
National Welfare Arguments Against Free Trade II
Slide 9-24
How Convincing Is the Market Failure Argument?• Domestic distortions should be corrected with
domestic (as opposed to international trade) policies.– Example: A domestic production subsidy is superior to
a tariff in dealing with a production-related market failure.
• Market failures are hard to diagnose and measure.– Example: A tariff to protect urban industrial sectors will
generate social benefits, but it will also encourage migration to these sectors that will result in higher unemployment.
National Welfare Arguments Against Free Trade II
Slide 9-25
While economists may talk about national welfare or total surplus, in a democracy, trade policy is influenced by the difference in political power between those who lose from free trade and those who gain.
There are two main theories in political science about how governments make decisions:• Median voter theorem
• Collective action theory
Real World Trade Policy
Slide 9-26
The Median Voter Theory– There are two competing political parties.
– Each party has to decide on the level of the tariff imposed.
– Voters differ in the tariff they prefer.
• What policies will the two parties promise to follow?– Both parties will support the tariff policy that the
median voter (the voter who is exactly halfway up the lineup) prefers.
Real World Trade Policy
Slide 9-27
Median Voter Theorem Fails
The median voter theorem cannot explain the widespread use of tariffs
Those who benefit from a tariff are usually few in number compared to those who are hurt by the tariff. Therefore,
Had the median voter theorem been correct, tariffs would rarely have been enacted
Slide 9-29
Collective Action• This approach views political activity as a public
good.– For instance, if one consumer’s letter to a politician
helps to stop a tariff, all consumers would benefit.
– This encourages free riding. Consequently,
• Trade policies that impose large total losses that are spread among many individual consumers may not face opposition.
– Industries that are well organized (or have a small number of firms) will get protection.
Real World Trade Policy
Slide 9-30
Sugar import quota, 1990
The U.S. quota on sugar imports • Limits imports to 2.13 million tons, which is half of
what it would be under free trade
• Keeps the U.S. price at $466 per ton, compared to $280 per ton in world markets
• Consumers lose $1.646 billion
• Producers gain $1.066 billion
• Net loss to the U.S. is $580 million per year
Slide 9-31
Sugar import quota, 1990
The loss per consumer is $6 per year. This is about $25 per family.
As the U.S. sugar industry employs about 12,000 workers, the gains per employee is $90,000 per year.
No wonder, the producers are politically organized and the consumers don’t bother!
The final insult: without the quota, between 2000 and 3000 workers would have had to look for jobs elsewhere.
Thus, the cost to the consumer per job saved in the sugar industry is more than $500,000 per year.
Slide 9-33
Who Gets Protected?• Two sectors seem to get protected in advanced
countries:– Agriculture
– Farmers are well organized and the structure of the U.S. government enhances their political power.
– Clothing– Both textiles and apparel have enjoyed substantial protection.
This sector employs less skilled workers and it is unionized as well.
• Protection is very likely to diminish in the future in both sectors (due to international trade negotiations).
Income Distribution and Trade Policy
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Addison-Wesley. All rights reserved.
9-34
Table 9-2: Welfare Costs of U.S. Protection ($ billion)
Slide 9-36
International Negotiations and Trade Policy
Globalization has increased from the mid-1930s partly because the United States and other advanced countries gradually removed tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade.
Slide 9-37
International Negotiations and Trade Policy
Slide 9-38
GATT and WTO
The removal of trade barriers was facilitated by institutionalized negotiations among countries
The General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade was begun in 1947 as a provisional international agreement
It was replaced by a more formal international institution called the World Trade Organization in 1995.
Slide 9-39
International negotiations
Why was it necessary to engage in international negotiations to get trade barriers reduced?
Why didn’t the advanced countries reduce their trade barriers unilaterally?
Slide 9-40
The Advantages of International Negotiation• It is easier to lower tariffs as part of a mutual
agreement than to do so as a unilateral policy because:
– It helps mobilize exporters to support freer trade and speak up against the import-competing industries who oppose imports.
– It can help governments avoid getting caught in destructive trade wars. (Next two slides.)
– It reduces the possibility of an adverse terms-of-trade effect from a unilateral reduction of tariffs.
International Negotiations and Trade Policy
Slide 9-41
International Negotiations and Trade Policy
Slide 9-42
In Table 9-4, each country would choose protection. Even though each country acting individually would
be better off with protection, they would both be better off if both chose free trade.• In game theory, this situation is known as a Prisoner’s
dilemma.
Japan and the U.S. can establish a binding agreement to maintain free trade and thereby escape the prisoner’s dilemma.
International Negotiations and Trade Policy
Bilateral versus Multilateral
Smoot-Hawley tariffs in 1930 Widely recognized to be a mistake that worsened the
Great Depression But unilateral tariff reduction was politically difficult Initially bilateral tariff-reducing agreements were
pursued Later multilateral agreements became popular Why?
Slide 9-43
Slide 9-44
Bilateral Trade Liberalization
Suppose the USA and Brazil currently impose tariffs on each other’s goods and cannot unilaterally remove the tariffs because of the political power of US coffee growers and Brazilian wheat farmers
When bilateral negotiations begin, the US coffee growers’ (or, Brazilian wheat farmers’) resistance to free trade would be opposed by US wheat farmers (or, Brazilian coffee growers) eyeing a possible reduction of Brazil’s (or, the US’s) tariffs on US wheat (or, Brazilian coffee).
In this way, bilateral negotiations to reduce tariffs can succeed even when unilateral efforts fail.
USA
Brazil
Wheat Coffee
Slide 9-45
Multilateral Trade Liberalization
In this example, bilateral negotiations between, say, Angola and Brazil will not succeed in reducing tariffs.• As Brazil does not export coffee to
Angola, there will be no opposition to Brazilian oil producers’ demands for a tariff on Angolan oil.
However, a multilateral agreement will be successful. In each country, exporters will organize to oppose importers’ resistance to the multilateral agreement.
Angola Brazil
China
Oil
CoffeeWheat
Slide 9-46
International Trade Agreements: A Brief History• Internationally coordinated tariff reduction as a trade
policy dates back to the 1930s (the Smoot-Hawley Act).
• The multilateral tariff reductions since World War II have taken place under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), established in 1947 and located in Geneva.
– It is now called the World Trade Organization (WTO).
– The GATT-WTO system is a legal organization that embodies a set of rules of conduct for international trade policy.
International Negotiations and Trade Policy
Slide 9-47
The GATT-WTO system prohibits the imposition of: • Export Subsidies
– except for agricultural products
• New Import quotas – except when imports threaten “market disruption”
• New or Higher Tariffs – any new tariff or increase in a tariff must be offset by
reductions in other tariffs to compensate the affected exporting countries
– This is called “binding” of tariffs
International Negotiations and Trade Policy
Slide 9-50
Trade round• A large group of countries get together to negotiate a set of tariff
reductions and other measures to liberalize trade.
Eight trade rounds have occurred since 1947:• The first five of these took the form of “parallel” bilateral
negotiations (e.g., Germany with France and Italy).
• The sixth multilateral trade agreement, known as the Kennedy Round, was completed in 1967:
– This agreement involved an across-the-board 50% reduction in tariffs by the major industrial countries, except for specified industries whose tariffs were left unchanged.
– Overall, the Kennedy Round reduced average tariffs by about 35%.
International Negotiations and Trade Policy
Slide 9-51
The so-called Tokyo round of trade negotiations (completed in 1979) resulted in:• Reduced tariffs
• New codes for controlling the proliferation of non-tariff barriers, such as VER’s (or, voluntary export restrictions).
An eighth round of negotiations, the so-called Uruguay Round, was competed in 1994.
International Negotiations and Trade Policy
Slide 9-52
The Uruguay Round• Its most important results are:
– Trade liberalization – Administrative reforms
Trade Liberalization• The average tariff imposed by advanced countries decreased by
almost 40%.– More important is the move to liberalize trade in two important
sectors: agricultural and clothing.
From the GATT to the WTO• Much of the publicity surrounding the Uruguay Round focused
on its creation of the WTO.
International Negotiations and Trade Policy
Trade liberalization, Uruguay round
Advanced country tariffs reduced by 40% Agricultural subsidies by exporters reduced by 36%
• Volume of subsidized exports reduced by 21%
• Agricultural import quotas replaced by bound tariffs
MFA phased out in 2005• All quantitative restrictions gone
• Some tariffs remain
Government procurement brought under fairer rules
Slide 9-53
9-54
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization was founded in 1995 on a number of agreements
• General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade: covers trade in goods
• General Agreement on Tariffs and Services: covers trade in services (ex., insurance, consulting, legal services, banking).
• Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property: covers international property rights (ex., patents and copyrights).
9-55
World Trade Organization
• The dispute settlement procedure: a formal procedure where countries in a trade dispute can bring their case to a panel of WTO experts to rule upon.
• The cases are settled fairly quickly: even with appeals the procedure is not supposed to last more than 15 months.
• The panel uses previous agreements by member countries to decide which ones are breaking their agreements.
9-56
World Trade Organization
• A country that refuses to adhere to the panel’s decision may be punished by allowing other countries to impose trade restrictions on its exports.
9-57
World Trade Organization
The GATT/WTO multilateral negotiations, ratified in 1994 (called the Uruguay Round),
• agreed that all quantitative restrictions (ex., quotas) on trade in textiles and clothing as previously specified in the Multi-Fiber Agreement were to be eliminated by 2005.
But as the restrictions were eliminated, China had to reimpose quotas until 2011 due to political pressure.
Slide 9-58
• How different is the WTO from the GATT?– The GATT was a provisional agreement, while the WTO
is a full-fledged international organization.
– The GATT applied only to trade in goods, while the WTO included rules on trade in services (the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)) and on international application of international property rights.
– The WTO has a new “dispute settlement” procedure which is designed to reach judgments in a much shorter time.
International Negotiations and Trade Policy
Slide 9-59
WTO: US v. Venezuela
US laws allowed domestic oil refineries to sell oil with more pollutants than imported oil
Venezuela, which exports oil to the US, sued the US at the WTO
Venezuela won. The US had to change its laws to make them non-discriminatory
This episode showed that the WTO worked Environmentalists complained that the WTO made it harder
for the US to reduce pollution Actually, the fault lies with the US law. The WTO should not
be blamed
Slide 9-60
Benefits and Costs• The economic impact of the Uruguay Round is
difficult to estimate.– However, estimates of the GATT and of the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development suggest a gain to the world economy as a whole of more than $200 billion annually once the agreement is fully in force.
– Most economists believe that these estimates are too low.
– The costs of the Uruguay Round will be felt by well-organized groups, while much of the benefit will accrue to diffuse populations.
International Negotiations and Trade Policy
9-61
WTO Doha Round
In 2001, a new round of negotiations was started in Doha, Qatar, but these negotiations have failed to produce an agreement.• Most of the remaining forms of protection are in
agriculture, textiles and clothing—industries that are politically active (see “Collective Action” above).
9-62
Table 9-4: Percentage Distribution of Potential Gains from Free Trade
9-63
Do Agricultural Subsidies in Rich Countries Hurt Poor Countries?
We learned in chapter 8 that subsidies lower the world price of products because domestic producers are enticed to produce more.• So why should poor countries want rich countries to remove their
agricultural subsidies?• The likely answer has to do with the desires of farmers in poor
countries who compete with farmers in rich countries.• Yet, urban residents and farmers who do not compete (ex., coffee
farmers) actually benefit from the lower prices of subsidized food on world markets.
– For example, because China imports a lot of food, it would be hurt by the removal of agricultural subsidies in rich countries (ex., the U.S. and Europe) according to the Doha negotiations.
9-64
Table 9-5: Percentage Gains in Income under Two Doha Scenarios
Slide 9-65
WTO Doha Round
Main sticking point: agriculture subsidies• Rich countries want to protect their farmers
• Poor countries want free market access for their farmers
Countries seem to have given up on WTO negotiations
Preferential trade agreements seem popular
Slide 9-66
Nations establish preferential trading agreements under which they lower tariffs with respect to each other but not the rest of the world.
The GATT-WTO, through the principle of non-discrimination called the “most favored nation” (MFN) principle, prohibits such agreements.• The formation of preferential trading agreements is
allowed if they lead to free trade between the agreeing countries.
Preferential Trading Agreements
Slide 9-67
• Free trade can be established among several WTO members as follows:
– A free trade area allows free-trade among members, but each member can have its own trade policy towards non-member countries.
– Example: The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) creates a free trade area.
– A customs union allows free trade among members and requires a common external trade policy towards non-member countries.
– Example: The European Union (EU) is a full customs union.
– A common market is a customs union with free factor movements (especially labor) among members.
Preferential Trading Agreements
Slide 9-68
Are preferential trading agreements good?• It depends on whether it leads to trade creation or
trade diversion.– Trade creation
– Occurs when the formation of a preferential trading agreement leads to replacement of high-cost domestic production by low-cost imports from other members.
– Trade diversion – Occurs when the formation of a preferential trading
agreement leads to the replacement of low-cost imports from non members with higher-cost imports from member nations.
Preferential Trading Agreements
Slide 9-69
Summary
There are three arguments in favor of free trade:• The efficiency gains from free trade
• The additional gains from economies of scale
• The political argument
There are two arguments for deviating from free trade:• The terms of trade argument for a tariff
• The domestic market failures
Slide 9-70
Summary
In practice, trade policy is dominated by considerations of income distribution. • Political parties adopt policies that serve the interests of
the median voter.
• Groups that are well organized (or small groups) are often able to get policies that serve their interests at the expense of the majority.
Slide 9-71
Summary
International negotiation helps reduce tariffs in industrial countries and avoid trade wars.
The GATT is the central institution of the international trading system.• The most recent worldwide GATT agreement also sets
up a new organization, the WTO. Three kinds of preferential trading agreements are
allowed under the WTO: free trade areas, customs unions, and common markets.
Preferential trading agreements can be good or bad depending on the magnitude of trade creation and trade diversion effects.
Slide 9-72
Home import demand
Foreign export supply
PF
Price, P
Quantity, Q
P~
PW
t
Appendix: Proving that the Optimum Tariff is Positive
Figure 9A-1: Effects of a Tariff on Prices
Slide 9-73
PF
PW
Price, P
Quantity, Q
S
D
P~
Gain
Loss
Q1 D1Q2 D2
Figure 9A-2: Welfare Effects of a Tariff
Appendix: Proving that the Optimum Tariff is Positive