DOCSLIB.ORG

International Trade Law and the “Carbon Leakage” Problem: Are Unilateral U.S. Import Restrictions the Solution? Bernd G

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
International Trade Law and the “Carbon Leakage” Problem: Are Unilateral U.S. Import Restrictions the Solution? Bernd G Sustainable Development Law & Policy Volume 8 Article 7 Issue 2 Winter 2008: Climate Law Reporter 2008 International Trade Law and the “Carbon Leakage” Problem: Are Unilateral U.S. Import Restrictions the Solution? Bernd G. Janzen Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/sdlp Part of the Environmental Law Commons, International Law Commons, and the International Trade Law Commons Recommended Citation Janzen, Bernd G. “International Trade Law and the “Carbon Leakage” Problem: Are Unilateral U.S. Import Restrictions the Solution?” Sustainable Development Law & Policy, Winter 2008, 22-26, 84-85. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Washington College of Law Journals & Law Reviews at Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sustainable Development Law & Policy by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INTE R NATIONAL TR A D E LAW AN D THE “CA R BON LEAKAGE ” PR OBLEM : AR E UNILATE R AL U.S. IMPO R T RE S T R ICTION S THE SOLUTION ? by Bernd G. Janzen* IN T RO D UC ti ON manufacturing from the former to the latter. This could lead to t the December 2007 United Nations Climate Change the reduction of such production in developed countries and an Conference in Bali, Indonesia, negotiators overcame increase in exports of GHG-intensive goods from developing Atremendous differences to agree on a “Bali Roadmap” to developed countries.9 In the context of China’s massive and process intended to determine a successor to the Kyoto Proto- growing trade surpluses and its emergence as the world’s larg- 10 col to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate est emitter of CO2, lawmakers in the United States and other Change (“UNFCCC”),1 whose current commitments to reduce developed countries face a tricky challenge—how to proceed global greenhouse gas (“GHG”) with the urgent task of imposing emissions expire in 2012.2 While meaningful national curbs on the United States rejected the GHG emissions while ensuring Kyoto Protocol,3 there appear to that domestic industries are not be decent prospects that it will In the United States, disadvantaged by imports pro- join its post-2012 successor.4 duced pursuant to less onerous Among other ambitious unilateral trade emissions requirements. goals, the Bali Roadmap pro- In the United States, uni- cess, through the “Bali Action restrictions appear to be lateral trade restrictions appear Plan” agreement, calls for the to be emerging as a mechanism development of both national emerging as a mechanism of choice as Congress evalu- and international measures to of choice as Congress ates its options for legislating a mitigate climate change, based solution to the carbon leakage on a “shared vision for long- evaluates its options problem. However, it is far from term cooperative action.”5 clear if the trade restrictions However, reflecting a deep rift for legislating a solution under consideration comply between developed and devel- or conflict with current global oping countries, the Bali Action to the carbon trading rules under the World Plan prescribes “common but Trade Organization (“WTO”). differentiated responsibilities”6 leakage problem. Such restrictions also do not in which developed countries appear to mesh well with U.S. commit to quantified and veri- trade policy, which generally fiable GHG emission reduc- favors trade liberalization. Uni- tions, but developing countries are only required to contribute laterally imposed national trade restrictions would also, at first “appropriate mitigation actions . in the context of sustainable blush, appear inconsistent with the goal established in the Bali development.”7 In short, under the Bali Roadmap, only devel- Action Plan of a globally coordinated approach to the reduction oped countries must actually reduce GHG emissions. of greenhouse gas emissions. This Article examines the most This core doctrine of “common but differentiated respon- visible proposed legislative solution to carbon leakage currently sibilities” in the Bali Roadmap may have been politically indis- under consideration in the United States in light of WTO rules, pensable to reaching agreement in Bali, but it has substantial U.S. trade policy, and the multilateral goals espoused in the Bali complicating implications for international trade in goods and Action Plan. This Article also proposes that current U.S. trade the competitiveness of U.S. industries. The problem, in a phrase, remedy laws provide a useful analogy for understanding and is “carbon leakage.”8 If developed economies like the United addressing the concerns of domestic manufacturing industries as States and EU impose higher costs on carbon dioxide (“CO2”) they grapple with the carbon leakage problem. and other GHG emissions (the economic consequence of set- ting and tightening caps on such emissions) than do developing countries, one result will be an incentive to shift GHG-intensive * Bernd G. Janzen is Counsel in the International Trade Group at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in Washington, D.C. WI N T ER 2008 22 REGULA ti NG U.S. IMPOR T S T O ENSURE to the U.S. market. While these added import compliance costs FA I R COMPE titi ON (in essence, constituting a trade restriction) would be justified Of the various recent legislative proposals that would reduce from the U.S. perspective as attempting to restore the competi- U.S. emissions of GHGs, the most prominent is the America’s tive balance of U.S. industries harmed by imports from coun- Climate Security Act of 2007 (“ACSA”), introduced by Senators tries with less stringent emissions restrictions, it seems unlikely Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and John Warner (R-VA) on October 18, that U.S. trading partners would willingly accept such unilateral 2007.11 ACSA would establish a national emissions cap on six import restrictions. GHGs, including CO2, which would decline from 2012 through ACSA’s import restrictions are not the only type of mecha- 2050,12 and would institute mechanisms to allocate emissions nism under consideration as the U.S. Congress examines how allowances to a range of covered U.S. GHG-emitting indus- to address competitive disadvantages to U.S. industries result- tries.13 Senators Lieberman and Warner introduced ACSA in the ing from the carbon leakage problem. The U.S. House of Rep- Senate two months prior to the release of the Bali Action Plan, resentatives Committee on Energy and Commerce identified and the ACSA is not expressly tied to that multilateral process. two other possible mechanisms to address the competitiveness However, both measures are a clear reflection of the strong polit- concerns for U.S. industry associated with carbon leakage in a ical will in the United States widely cited January 2008 White and in many other countries to Paper.18 One is the adoption of move quickly and in a globally carbon intensity standards for coordinated fashion to reduce energy-intensive products, which GHG emissions and stave off would apply to all such products the worst expected effects of The EU is also sold in the United States regard- climate change. contemplating unilateral less of their origin.19 Fees would Recognizing the adverse presumably be imposed on prod- competitive effects that could trade measures that could ucts that do not meet those carbon result to U.S. manufacturing intensity standards, to compel industries competing against restrict imports as part of the sale in the United States of foreign industries not subject only those products that do meet to such measures—i.e., the car- its ambitious drive those standards.20 The American bon leakage problem—ACSA Iron and Steel Institute and the would require the Administra- to reduce carbon emissions Steel Manufacturers Association tion to urge other countries to are major proponents of carbon adopt comparable measures to across a wide range intensity standards, and have reduce GHG emissions.14 Oth- criticized the proposed ACSA erwise, U.S. industries would of industries by twenty import mechanism for, among have systemically higher com- percent by 2020. other things, encouraging foreign pliance costs than their for- governments to provide subsidies eign competitors—and such an to their exporters to the United imbalance would only increase States of greenhouse gas-inten- over time as U.S. emissions sive goods.21 caps decline. But also recognizing that a globally coordinated The third possible option for addressing carbon leakage approach to reducing GHG emissions may or may not occur, identified in the White Paper would make foreign countries’ ACSA would, as of 2020, require importers of GHG-intensive access to U.S. carbon markets contingent on their imposition of products to declare to U.S. Customs and Border Protection GHG emissions restrictions comparable to those adopted in the (“CBP”) either that: (1) the imported goods are covered by spe- United States.22 Such incentives could take several forms, such cial international allowances created under ACSA,15 or (2) the as more generous terms of access for countries that agree more exporting country is one deemed under ACSA to have taken quickly to emissions caps comparable to those imposed in the measures to reduce GHG emissions comparable to those taken United States.23 However, import restrictions along the lines of by the United States.16 The import provisions expressly cover those proposed by ACSA, while contentious, are generally seen GHG-intensive manufactured goods such as iron, steel, alumi- at this point as having the best chances of passage in the U.S. num, cement, bulk glass, and paper, and would extend to any Congress. manufacturing production process that generates GHG emis- The EU is also contemplating unilateral trade measures that sions “comparable” to the expressly covered products.17 Thus, could restrict imports as part of its ambitious drive to reduce ACSA has the obvious potential to impose very substantial carbon emissions across a wide range of industries by twenty compliance costs on U.S.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Trade Policy and Economic Growth
    TRADE POLICY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: A SKEPTIC'S GUIDE TO THE CROSS-NATIONAL EVIDENCE Francisco Rodríguez and Dani Rodrik University of Maryland and Harvard University Revised May 2000 Department of Economics University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 (301) 405-3480 John F. Kennedy School of Government 79 Kennedy Street Cambridge, MA 02138 (617) 495-9454 We thank Dan Ben-David, Sebastian Edwards, Jeffrey Frankel, David Romer, Jeffrey Sachs, and Andrew Warner for generously sharing their data with us. We are particularly grateful to Ben- David, Frankel, Romer, Sachs, Warner and Romain Wacziarg for helpful e-mail exchanges. We have benefited greatly from discussions in seminars at the University of California at Berkeley, University of Maryland, University of Miami, University of Michigan, MIT, the Inter-American Development Bank, Princeton, Yale, IMF, IESA and the NBER. We also thank Ben Bernanke, Roger Betancourt, Allan Drazen, Gene Grossman, Ann Harrison, Chang-Tai Hsieh, Doug Irwin, Chad Jones, Frank Levy, Douglas Irwin, Rick Mishkin, Arvind Panagariya, Ken Rogoff, James Tybout, and Eduardo Zambrano for helpful comments, Vladimir Kliouev for excellent research assistance and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard for partial financial support. TRADE POLICY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: A SKEPTIC'S GUIDE TO THE CROSS-NATIONAL EVIDENCE ABSTRACT Do countries with lower policy-induced barriers to international trade grow faster, once other relevant country characteristics are controlled for? There exists a large empirical literature providing an affirmative answer to this question. We argue that methodological problems with the empirical strategies employed in this literature leave the results open to diverse interpretations.
    [Show full text]
  • A) the Economic Rationale for Trade Net Effect on the Terms-Of-Trade, but Lead to a Agreements Contraction of Trade Volumes Which Reduces Overall Welfare (See Box 1
    II – B FLEXIBILITY IN TRADE AGREEMENTS B FLEXIBILITY IN TRADE AGREEMENTS The aim of this section is to: (a) clarify what Economists have identified several rationales for justifies the inclusion of contingency measures in the existence of trade agreements, such as those trade agreements; (b) provide an account of all embodied in the WTO, and its antecedent, the circumstances when a suspension of commitments General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). may make economic sense; and (c) identify the Two main approaches can be distinguished.1 The flexibility measures built into WTO agreements. first states that in the absence of a trade agreement, The section provides a framework for the discussion a country may be tempted to manipulate the of specific contingency measures in the subsequent terms-of-trade (i.e. the price of its exports relative sections of the Report. to its imports) in order to increase its national income at the expense of its trading partners. The 1. ECONOMIC THEORIES OF second approach stresses the economic and political TRADE AGREEMENTS AND THE difficulties that governments face in setting trade policy. As discussed below, trade agreements allow ROLE OF FLEXIBILITIES governments to escape terms-of-trade conflicts and/ or to resist pressures from the private sector and Trade agreements aim to strike a balance between special-interest groups urging the government to flexibility and commitments. If there is too deviate from a liberal trade policy. much flexibility, the value of the commitment is undermined. If there is too little flexibility, countries i) The traditional approach to trade agreements may refuse to make deep commitments or may easily renege on such commitments.
    [Show full text]
  • The Effects of Trade Policy
    NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES THE EFFECTS OF TRADE POLICY Pinelopi K. Goldberg Nina Pavcnik Working Paper 21957 http://www.nber.org/papers/w21957 NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 February 2016 Prepared for the Handbook of Commercial Policy, edited by Kyle Bagwell and Robert Staiger. We thank seminar participants at the Dartmouth-SNU conference and the Handbook Conference at Dartmouth, especially Bruce Blonigen, Woan Foong Wong, and Peter Schott, for comments. We thank Carla Larin and Konrad von Moltke for research assistance. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer- reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications. © 2016 by Pinelopi K. Goldberg and Nina Pavcnik. All rights reserved. Short sections of text, not to exceed two paragraphs, may be quoted without explicit permission provided that full credit, including © notice, is given to the source. The Effects of Trade Policy Pinelopi K. Goldberg and Nina Pavcnik NBER Working Paper No. 21957 February 2016 JEL No. F10,F13,F14,F63,F68,L11 ABSTRACT The last two decades have witnessed a shift in the focus of international trade research from trade policy to other forms of trade frictions (e.g., transportation, information and communication costs). Implicit in this development is the widespread view that trade policy no longer matters. We confront this view by critically examining a large body of evidence on the effects of trade policy on economically important outcomes.
    [Show full text]
  • The Operation of the Trade Agreements Program in Overcoming Barriers to Hemisphere Trade
    THE OPERATION OF THE TRADE AGREEMENTS PROGRAM IN OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO HEMISPHERE TRADE CHARLES F. DARLINGTON* I. THEORY AND BACKGROUND OF PRESENT UNITED STATES COMMERCIAL POLICY While war raged in Europe and the Orient a most important event of a peaceful nature took place this Fall in the Western Hemisphere. On October 14 th there was signed in Buenos Aires a trade agreement between Argentina and the United States, the first commercial agreement or treaty to be concluded between the two countries since 1853. The signature of the agreement represents the culmination of a long effort by both governments. Argentina, occupying a leading position politically and eco- nomically in our own hemisphere, was naturally one of the first countries to be considered when the trade agreements program was begun in 1934. On two occa- sions since then, in 1936 and again in 1939, agreement seemed in sight, but not until this autumn could the differences between the two countries be bridged. The message addressed by President Roosevelt to Acting President Castillo, and Dr. Castillo's reply, lifted the agreement out of the realm of commerce and stressed its significance in the political relations between the two countries. Both made it clear that they consider that the main importance of the agreement lies not in the trade benefits which the two countries concede to each other but in its contribution to the principle of hemisphere solidarity and cooperation. President Roosevelt pre- dicted that "in the years to come we will look upon the agreement signed today as a monument to the ways of peace, standing in sharp and profound relief upon a desolate plain of war and destruction.' To consider the trade agreements program as simply a matter of reducing some of the rates in our tariff and of obtaining lower rates abroad for some of our exports isto fail to appreciate the true character of this most important work.
    [Show full text]
  • Information Note for the Call for Input on a Prospective Free Trade Agreement Between the United Kingdom and Japan September 2019
    Information note for the call for input on a prospective free trade agreement between the United Kingdom and Japan September 2019 1 Table of Contents 1 Introduction _____________________________________________________________________ 3 2 Definition of a Free Trade Agreement and an Economic Partnership Agreement ___________ 4 2.1 Scope of the Economic Partnership Agreement with Japan _________________________ 4 2.2 Trade Between the UK and Japan _______________________________________________ 5 2.3 Economic outlook for Japan and the United Kingdom _____________________________ 6 2.4 The Economic Impact of Free Trade Agreements __________________________________ 7 3 Trade in Goods __________________________________________________________________ 8 3.1 Provisions Facilitating Trade in Goods in the EU-Japan EPA ________________________ 9 4 Trade in Services _______________________________________________________________ 15 4.1 Provisions in the EU-Japan EPA Facilitating Trade in Services _____________________ 16 5 Cross-border Investment _________________________________________________________ 22 5.1 Cross-Border Investment Provisions in the EPA _________________________________ 23 6 Regulations and Standards _______________________________________________________ 25 6.1 Regulatory barriers to trade __________________________________________________ 25 6.2 Regulations and Standards Provisions in the EPA _______________________________ 25 7 Competition provisions and Procurement ___________________________________________ 31 7.1 Competition
    [Show full text]
  • Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974: Origin, Evolution, and Use
    Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974: Origin, Evolution, and Use Updated December 14, 2020 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R46604 SUMMARY R46604 Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974: Origin, December 14, 2020 Evolution, and Use Andres B. Schwarzenberg Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 grants the Office of the United States Trade Representative Analyst in International (USTR) a range of responsibilities and authorities to investigate and take action to enforce U.S. Trade and Finance rights under trade agreements and respond to certain foreign trade practices. From the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations in 1994, which resulted in the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995, until the start of the Trump Administration, the United States used Section 301 authorities primarily to build cases and pursue dispute settlement at the WTO. The Trump Administration has shown more willingness to go outside of the WTO to act unilaterally under these authorities to promote what the Administration touts as “free,” “fair,” and “reciprocal” trade. The Trump Administration’s use of Section 301 to impose tariffs as punitive measures has been the subject of congressional and broader international debate, and some in Congress have raised a number of questions regarding USTR’s actions, including the scope of USTR’s authorities, the types of trade actions allowed, and the tariff exclusion process. The Trump Administration has attributed its use of Section 301 to impose tariffs as punitive measures to its determination to close a large and persistent gap between U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • How and Why Do Countries Regulate Trade? Have You Ever Tried to Mail A
    How and why do countries regulate trade? Have you ever tried to mail a package to another country at the post office? If so, you probably had to fill out a customs declaration. It asked you to list the items you were sending and to indicate whether they were gifts or goods to be sold. This information is required by customs, the government department responsible for examining goods entering a country and enforcing any trade restrictions on them. Economists have long argued against trade restrictions. Nonetheless, few countries have ever fully embraced free trade, the unrestricted movement of goods and services across borders. Over the years, countries have found many reasons to regulate foreign trade. Many countries restrict imports in order to shield domestic markets from foreign competition. Such behavior is known as protectionism. Countries do this mainly to satisfy political demands at home. There are many types of trade barriers. The four main types are protective tariffs, import quotas, trade embargoes, and voluntary export restraints. The most common type of trade barrier is the protective tariff, a tax on imported goods. Countries use tariffs to raise revenue and to protect domestic industries from competition from cheaper foreign goods. Tariffs are among the easiest taxes to impose, since they arouse little domestic protest and can be easily applied to goods before they enter the country. While protective tariffs may help specific domestic producers, they do not benefit consumers. Tariffs push up the prices of imported goods. So instead of having to lower prices to compete with cheap imports, domestic producers can raise prices to the inflated price level of the imports.
    [Show full text]
  • China's Wto Entry: Antidumping, Safeguards, and Dispute Settlement
    NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES CHINA'S WTO ENTRY: ANTIDUMPING, SAFEGUARDS, AND DISPUTE SETTLEMENT Chad P. Bown Working Paper 13349 http://www.nber.org/papers/w13349 NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 August 2007 Thanks to Rachel McCulloch, Shang-Jin Wei, Tom Prusa, Marty Feldstein, Richard Cooper, Lee Branstetter, Bruce Blonigen, Will Martin, and conference participants at the NBER for useful comments on an earlier version. Matthew Niedzwiecki and Paul Deng provided outstanding research assistance. The World Bank provided financial support for the collection of data used in this project. All remaining errors are my own. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. © 2007 by Chad P. Bown. All rights reserved. Short sections of text, not to exceed two paragraphs, may be quoted without explicit permission provided that full credit, including © notice, is given to the source. China's WTO Entry: Antidumping, Safeguards, and Dispute Settlement Chad P. Bown NBER Working Paper No. 13349 August 2007 JEL No. F13,F5 ABSTRACT This chapter assesses China's integration into the global trading system by examining areas of international political-economic "friction" associated with its increased trade. We use a number of newly constructed data sets to examine tensions associated with its rapidly increasing trade and the trade policy commitments that China and its trading partners have undertaken as part of its 2001 WTO accession. With respect to China's exports, we examine data on WTO members' use of antidumping and their discriminatory treatment of Chinese firms prior to and following accession.
    [Show full text]
  • Economic Reform and the Process of Global Integration
    JEFFREY D. SACHS Harvard University ANDREW WARNER Harvard University Economic Reform and the Process of Global Integration WHEN THE BROOKINGS Panel on Economic Activity began in 1970, the world economy roughly accorded with the idea of three distinct eco- nomic systems: a capitalist first world, a socialist second world, and a developing third world which aimed for a middle way between the first two. The third world was characterized not only by its low levels of per capita GDP, but also by a distinctive economic system that assigned the state sector the predominant role in industrialization, although not the monopoly on industrial ownership as in the socialist economies. The years between 1970 and 1995, and especially the last decade, have witnessed the most remarkable institutional harmonization and economic integration among nations in world history. While economic integration was increasing throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the extent of integration has come sharply into focus only since the collapse of com- munism in 1989. In 1995 one dominant global economic system is emerg- ing. The common set of institutions is exemplified by the new World Trade Organization (WTO), which was established by agreement of more than 120 economies, with almost all the rest eager to join as rapidly as possible. Part of the new trade agreement involves a codification of basic principles governing trade in goods and services. Similarly, the In- ternational Monetary Fund (IMF) now boasts nearly universal member- ship, with member countries pledged to basic principles of currency convertibility. Most programs of economic reform now underway in the developing world and in the post-communist world have as their strategic aim the 1 2 Brookings Paper-s on Economic Activity, 1:1995 integration of the national economy with the world economy.
    [Show full text]
  • Multi0page.Pdf
    ; 11 - 25506 ' - - February 2003 Public Disclosure Authorized ., [ R'EGIONAL INTEGRATION- AND DEVELOPMENT Public Disclosure Authorized lku &ADDVEOMN , ,..,U- .. .i.. SCHIFFLMAURICE and L. ALAN WVINTERS .. Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Regional Integration and Development Maurice Schiff and L. Alan Winters © 2003 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000 Internet: www.worldbank.org E-mail: [email protected] All rights reserved. 1 2 3 4 05 04 03 A co-publication of the World Bank and Oxford University Press. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank cannot guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply on the part of the World Bank any judgment of the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Rights and Permissions The material in this work is copyrighted. No part of this work may be reproduced or trans- mitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or inclusion in any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the World Bank. The World Bank encourages dissemination of its work and will normally grant permission promptly. For permission to photocopy or reprint, please send a request with complete informa- tion to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA, telephone 978-750-8400, fax 978-750-4470, www.copyright.com.
    [Show full text]
  • Volume: 25 Issue: 10 Overview Of
    Volume: 25 Issue: 10 By: Imad Antoine Ibrahim June 1, 2021 Overview of Export Restrictions on COVID-19 Vaccines and their Components Introduction Trade policy instruments, mainly tariff and non-tariff measures either facilitating or restricting trade, have been used by various governments since the emergence of COVID-19.1 To avoid suffering the same fate as HIV medicines, which in the past reached developing countries at a later stage than developed countries, the international community established the COVAX task force, led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and involving various other actors, to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and ingredients. Nonetheless, this initiative is facing various obstacles because of vaccine nationalism, vaccine diplomacy, and shortages in supplies. 2 In particular, vaccine nationalism, in the form of export restrictions on COVID-19 vaccines and ingredients that were imposed and in some cases are still in force, has affected the process of vaccinating populations in developing and least developing countries. 3 Countries or blocs imposing export restrictions include the United States (US), India, and the European Union (EU).4 Such restrictions are problematic, as only a very few (mainly developed) countries (Ireland, Belgium, France, Great Britain, the US, the Netherlands, Italy, India, Germany, and Canada) are exporting vaccines. Vaccine production and exportation require an extremely sophisticated supply chain consisting of: 1) the drug discovery and development process; 2) mass production; 3) distribution and administration; and 4) reverse logistics. 5 This Insight will summarize current export restrictions and analyze the legality of these restrictions in the general framework of World Trade Organization (WTO) law.
    [Show full text]
  • Measuring International Trade Policy: a Primer on Trade Restrictiveness Indices
    Measuring International Trade Policy: A Primer on Trade Restrictiveness Indices Cletus C. Coughlin Measuring the overall restrictiveness of a country’s international trade policies is important and, in fact, essential for estimating the effects of trade policies and for negotiations to reduce trade barriers. A good measure is also difficult to produce: Trade restrictiveness indices are construct ed by combining the actual structure of trade restrictions, which is generally quite different across goods, into a single number. Under certain assumptions, this single number is the uniform tariff that would produce the same trade restrictiveness as the actual differentiated structure of restric - tions. In this paper, the economic intuition underlying the construction of these indices is pre - sented and estimates of these indices and the resulting insights are summarized. (JEL F00, F13, C43) Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review , September/October 2010, 92 (5), pp. 381-94. ountries commonly use tariffs and if applied to every imported good, would gener - other barriers to deter the importa tion ate the same result for a nation’s economic well- of foreign-produced goods. Such trade being as the actual set of trade barriers. 1 Trade policies affect economic activity and restrictiveness indices are valuable for many pur - Ceconomic well-being not only in the country poses, such as assessing the impact of trade pol icy enacting these policies but in other countries as on economic and social outcomes and providing well. A fundamental question when assessing useful information for trade negotiations. Because these policies is how restrictive overall a coun - of the importance of trade restrictiveness indices, try’s trade policies actually are.
    [Show full text]