Trade policy commitments to lower import tariffs and to maintain tariffs at low levels entail short and long-run political-economic costs and benefits. Empirical work examining the relationship between such commitments and the exercise of trade policy flexibilities is still relatively nascent,...

We provide an equilibrium analysis of the efficiency properties of bilateral tariff negotiations in a three-country, two-good general equilibrium model of international trade when transfers are not feasible. We consider "weak-rules" settings characterized by two cases: a no-rules case in which...

These reports present an important aspect of regional cooperation in Central Asia – trade. Many factors speak in favour of regional trade and cooperation, including (a) the communication, transport and energy infrastructure created by the former Soviet Union as an integrated national system;...

This paper investigates the inter-industry structure of production in India. It examines the structure of protection, asking how much protection each industry receives. We calculate, compare and analyze several measures of trade protection across agricultural, manufacturing and service...

This chapter surveys empirically the broad features of trade policy in goods for 31 major economies that collectively represented 83% of the world's population and 91% of the world's GDP in 2013. We address five questions: Do some countries have more liberal trading regimes than others? Within...

This chapter provides an overview of the legal obligations of the WTO/GATT system and certain related national, bilateral, and plurilateral arrangements. It is intended for economists and other social scientists who seek a concise and accessible introduction to the core legal obligations of the...