Welfare Implications of Regionalism in the GATT: The Presence of Foreign Ownership

This paper examines the welfare implications of an existence of free trade agreements (FTAs) and customs unions (CUs) in the GATT system, in the presence of cross-foreign ownership among countries. In particular, two GATT regimes are analyzed: a pure GATT regime without any regional free trade agreements, and modified GATT regime with either an FTA or a CU. This paper argues that, when foreign ownership exists significantly between the countries, no countries in the GATT have an incentive to form a regional trade agreement before they participate in multilateral tariff negotiations.Most Favored Nation Clause, Free Trade Agreements, Customs Unions, Foreign Ownership

Welfare Implications of Regionalism in the GATT

This paper investigates the welfare implications of an existence of a free trade agreement (FTA) and a customs union (CU) within the GATT. Two types of GATT regimes are considered in a completely symmetric world: a pure GATT regime without any type of the regional trade agreements (RTAs), and a modified GATT regime with one of them. The main results are for a range of sufficiently high discount rate, first that free trade and global welfare efficiency can be supported under the pure GATT regime but not under the modified regimes, and second that a country's ranking of the both regimes depends on (1) whether it belongs to an RTA or not and (2) which one of the RTAs it belongs to. The insight of these results are that the regionalism in the GATT may restrict free trade and thus fails to achieve the highest global welfare.Most Favored Nation Clause, Free Trade Agreements, Customs Unions

On the European Union – Turkey Customs Union

The purpose of the paper is to study the European Union - Turkey customs union (CU) of 1995 covering trade in industrial goods. The customs union decision of 1995 tending to rules and disciplines on various regulatory border and behind-the-border policies covers in particular customs reform, technical barriers to trade, competition policy, intellectual property rights, and administrative procedures. The paper after assessing in each case the status quo at the time of the entry of the CU into force evaluates the commitments undertaken under the CU, and assesses the degree of implementation of the CU requirements as well as the administrative costs of implementation of the CU. Finally, the paper shows how the CU has successfully moved the Turkish economy from a government-controlled regime to a market based one.Economic Integration, Customs Union

Jordan Imports and Tariff Regimes: A Revisit

Jordan made substantial market access commitments as part of its WTO membership negotiations. Jordan has low average tariffs with single or two digits rate and ad valorem-only duties with some exceptions where specific duties apply. Customs standards in Jordan were streamlined in accordance with WTO rules. Jordan confirmed in its accession to the WTO that free zones or export processing zones would be fully subject to the coverage of the commitments taken in the protocol of accession. The purpose of this article is to examine and analyse Jordan’s current imports and tariffs regime

Trade, Diversification and Growth in Nigeria

Nigeria’s trade policy is at a crucial turning point. Historically, the country has had a very restrictive import regime that generated substantial transfers to domestic producers and strong anti-export bias. Yet, in its current poverty reduction strategy, Nigeria identified deeper trade integration as a means to foster economic growth and alleviate poverty. Border tariffs are being reduced, trade regulations are under review, and ambitious modernization programs for customs services and port infrastructure have been launched. The envisioned reforms involve far-reaching changes to the trade regime that promise to create new opportunities by improving the efficiency of production and consumption, while requiring adjustment of domestic producers to the new, more competitive economic environment.Trade; tariffs; regional integration; preferences; world markets

They won’t like a bit of British butter on their bread: the problem of tariffs after Brexit

Countries impose customs duties on imported goods. How would UK exports be affected if we left the EU’s Common Customs Tariff regime? Michael Johnson explains how the tariff schedule works, and that some products (such as food, vehicles and electronics) are subject to much higher duty than others. Abolishing all tariffs, as some pro-Brexit economists have proposed, is unrealistic because industries like agriculture demand protection from cheap imports.He looks at the challenge of renegotiating the vast amount of legislation in the area, particularly for services

Customs, Immigration, and Rights: Constitutional Limits on Electronic Border Searches

The warrantless search of travelers’ electronic devices as they enter and exit the United States is rapidly increasing. While the Supreme Court has long recognized a border-search exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement, it applies to only two interests: promoting the duty regime and preventing contraband from entering the country; and ensuring that individuals are legally admitted. The government’s recent use of the exception goes substantially beyond these matters. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are using it to search electronic devices, and at times the cloud, for evidence of any criminal activity, bypassing the warrant requirement altogether. Searches of these devices implicate privacy concerns well beyond those of the home, which has long been protected even for customs and immigration purposes. This Essay traces the evolution of the border exception, noting the effect of recent Supreme Court decisions, to argue that CBP and ICE are operating outside constitutional constraints. The Essay considers two objections grounded in the legitimate interests of CBP and ICE. It responds, first, that inspection of digital devices differs from the examination of a traveler’s purse or luggage: the level of intrusion and the amount of information obtained changes the quality of the search, triggering Fourth Amendment protections. Second, as an immigration matter, as soon as citizens are identified, absent probable cause, the government does not have the constitutional authority to search their devices at all. Foreigners lacking a substantial connection to the country, however, do not enjoy the same Fourth Amendment protections. It concludes by observing that because of the substance and complexity of the issue, Congress has an important role to play in determining what types of searches are justified

Why Does cargo spend weeks in African ports ? the case of Douala, Cameroon

This paper investigates the main factors explaining long container dwell times in African Ports. Using original and extensive data on container imports in the Port of Douala, it seeks to provide a basic understanding of why containers stay on average more than two weeks in gateway ports in Africa while long dwell times are widely recognized as a critical hindrance to economic development. It also demonstrates the interrelationships that exist between logistics performance of consignees, operational performance of port operators and efficiency of customs clearance operations. Shipment level analysis is used to identify the main determinants of long cargo dwell times and the impact of shipment characteristics such as fiscal regime, density of value, bulking and packaging type, last port of call, and region of origin or commodity group on cargo dwell time in ports is tested. External factors, such as performance of clearing and forwarding agents, shippers and shipping line strategies, also play an important role in the determination of long dwell times. Cargo dwell time distribution has many specificities, including broad-tail, high variance or right-censoring, which requires in-depth statistical analysis prior to any design of policy recommendations.Common Carriers Industry,Transport and Trade Logistics,Transport Economics Policy&Planning,E-Business,Customs and Trade