Non-tariff measures and the WTO

Arbeitspapier

In this paper I sketch out the rough contours of the challenge faced by the WTO in dealing with non-tariff measures (NTMs) as seen from the economic theories of trade agreements. The key questions for the WTO - the answers to which largely dictate the choice between shallow and deep approaches to integration - appear to be two: (1) Is it the terms-of-trade problem or the commitment problem that WTO member governments seek to solve with their WTO membership?; and (2) Is it market clearing or offshoring/bilateral bargaining that is now the most prominent mechanism for the determination of international prices? I suggest that evidence on the first question points to the terms-of-trade theory and hence toward shallow integration, but that answering the second question may be the key to identifying the best way forward on NTMs for the WTO.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: WTO Staff Working Paper ; No. ERSD-2012-01

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Externalities ; Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations ; International Institutional Arrangements ; Taxation and Subsidies: Efficiency; Optimal Taxation ; Taxation and Subsidies: Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
• Subject: terms of trade ; commitment ; border measures ; behind-the-border measures ; offshoring ; bilateral bargaining ; Nichttarifäre Handelshemmnisse ; WTO-Regeln ; Terms of Trade ; Außenwirtschaftstheorie

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Staiger, Robert W.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): World Trade Organization (WTO)
• (where): Geneva
• (when): 2012

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.30875/5703a171-en
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/57619
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET