Tariff Escalation in the Doha Talks--Bringing the Issue to Resolution

Development objectives dictate that the Doha negotiations address tariff escalation. This could increase the production and export of processed goods in developing countries, expand investment and employment, and reduce dependence on primary product exports. Despite its importance, little progress has been made, notwithstanding that a final resolution to the negotiations will not be possible without bringing this issue to resolution. This paper quantifies tariff escalation within WTO members' tariff schedules and the degree to which a tiered formula could address this problem. Utilizing a detailed partial equilibrium global agricultural trade model we estimate the possible gains to developing countries from reducing tariff escalation.tariff escalation, agriculture, trade, tariffs, WTO, International Relations/Trade, F13, Q17,

The Doha Agricultural Market Access Negotiations: Remaining Conceptual, Practical, and Technical Issues

Before the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations can be concluded negotiators will need to agree on a host of market access issues, including the size of tariff cuts, a methodology for opening tariff quotas in the case of products exempted from applying full tariff cuts, and the amount of flexibility to be provided under special and differential treatment for developing countries. Each of these issues harbours a number of complex problems that will have to be addressed. How these are resolved could have significant impacts on the actual level of market access created by the final agreement. This paper analyses the extensive inventory of outstanding issues yet to be resolved if an effective outcome is to be reached.International Relations/Trade,

The Antidumping Negotiations: Proposals, Positions and Antidumping Profiles

Negotiations over the rules governing the use of antidumping (AD) duties are occurring in both the World Trade Organization and the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Unfortunately, the goal of the negotiations is unclear, as some governments want to restrict the use of antidumping while others seek to maintain the ability of national governments to use antidumping measures. We hypothesize that members who desire to preserve the use of antidumping are active in initiating suits. To explore this hypothesis, we examine the positions taken by major actors in the negotiations, and their antidumping profiles. An antidumping profile includes data on a member's AD actions, including investigations and measures the member initiates, as well as investigations and measures against the member's exports.antidumping, FTAA negotiations, WTO negotiations, International Relations/Trade,

International Agricultural Baseline Projections to 2007

This report provides baseline projections for international supply, demand, and trade for major agricultural commodities to 2007. It is a companion report to USDA Agricultural Baseline Projections, providing the foreign country details supporting those projections. Projections of strong global economic growth, particularly in developing countries, combined with more open foreign markets and the emergence of China as a major bulk commodity importer, support strong projected gains in U.S. farm exports. The value of total U.S. agricultural exports is projected to rise from a record $57.3 billion in FY 1997 to nearly$85 billion in 2007. The projections were completed based on information available as of December 1997, and reflect a composite of model results and analyst judgment.agriculture, commodities, international, projections, supply, use, trade, Production Economics,

Road tests

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TRADE REMEDY ACTIONS IN NAFTA AGRICULTURE AND AGRI-FOOD INDUSTRIES

International Relations/Trade,

An analysis of carbon 14 radiation detection systems

Carbon 14 radiation detection systems for studying microorganisms in Martian soil

PROFILES OF TARIFFS IN GLOBAL AGRICULTURAL MARKETS

High protection for agricultural commodities in the form of tariffs continues to be the major factor restricting world trade. The large differences in average tariffs across countries make it possible for farmers in one country to benefit from tariff protection while farmers in other countries lose income because of lower prices resulting from those tariffs. This report provides the first comprehensive analysis of agricultural tariffs and tariff-rate quotas (limits on imported goods) across a large number of countries and commodities and finds that high average tariffs create barriers to markets for U.S. and other farmers.market access, megatariffs, tariff profiles, over-quota tariffs, in-quota tariffs, tariff-rate quotas, World Trade Organization, International Relations/Trade,