The Impacts of Export Taxes on Agricultural Trade

This paper aims to assess the rationales for the use of export taxes, in particular in the context of a food crisis. First, we summarize the effects of export taxes using both partial and general equilibrium theoretical models. When large countries have an objective of constant food domestic prices, in the event of an increase in world agricultural prices the optimal response is to decrease import tariffs in net food-importing countries and to increase export tariffs in net food-exporting countries. The latter decision is welfare improving while the former is welfare reducing: it is the price to pay to get domestic food prices constant. Small countries are harmed by both decisions. Second, we illustrate the costs of a lack of cooperation in and regulation of (binding process) such policies in a time of crisis using a global computable general equilibrium (CGE) model illustration, mimicking the mechanisms that have appeared during the recent food price surge. We conclude with a call ...

The World Economy, 2013

Review of World Economics, 2012

This paper aims to assess the rationales for export taxes in the context of a food crisis. First, we summarize the effects of export taxes using both partial and general equilibrium theoretical models. When large countries aim to maintain constant domestic food prices, in the event of an increase in world agricultural prices, the optimal response is to decrease import tariffs in net food-importing countries and to increase export tariffs in net food-exporting countries. The latter decision improves national welfare, while the former reduces national welfare: this is the price that must be paid to keep domestic food prices constant. Small net foodimporting countries are harmed by both decisions, while small net food-exporting countries gain from both. Second, we illustrate the costs of a lack of regulation and cooperation surrounding such policies in a time of crisis using a global computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, mimicking the mechanisms that appeared during the recent food price surge (2006)(2007)(2008). This model illustrates the interdependence of trade policies, as well as how a process of retaliation and counter-retaliation (increased export taxes in large net food-exporting countries and reduced import tariffs in large net food-importing countries) can contribute to successive augmentations of world agricultural prices and harm small net food-importing countries. We conclude with a call for international regulation, in particular because small net food-importing countries may be substantially harmed by those policies that amplify the already negative impact of a food crisis.

2007

This paper examines the issue of export taxes on primary commodities; almost 40 countries applied export taxes in recent years. The case of Argentina, which is a prominent user of the export tax and a leading exporter of soybean products, is then considered. In 2006, it taxed exports of soybeans, soybean meal and soybean oil, respectively, at 23.5 percent, 19.3 percent, and 20 percent. We simulate the effects of altering these taxes. Removing export taxes on soybean oil and meal, but continuing the tax on soybeans causes exports of meal and oil to rise and exports of soybeans to fall. Exports of each product increase when taxed uniformly at 10 percent. Removal of the taxes on all products increases exports of each product. Devaluation of the Argentinean peso by about 60 percent in 2002 likely affected these exports more than the changes in the export tax that were considered. 1 William Deese

The Journal of Developing Areas, 2011

Although the key issue in the WTO negotiations on agriculture is subsidies reduction, the EU and USA still account more than 85% of the world agriculture subsidies. An important policy question confronting developing countries is whether the reduction agreed within the Hong Kong conference could enable them to reap significant trade gains. Using data for 19 developing countries from 1995 to 2005, the results of cointegration and ECM indicate that 1% reduction in the subsidies imposed by the EU and USA would raise the developing countries' share in the world agricultural exports by an amount averaged between 0.11% to 0.55%. Simulation results confirm that real gains would be when there is a deep reduction in the current ceiling on overall trade-distorting subsidies by more than 75% for USA and 80% for the EU. The major challenge in coming negotiations is to address the ambiguity in the definition and quantification of agricultural subsidies.

2004

Aim of the paper is to appraise the impact of EU and US non tariff measures on agro-food exports from African, Asian and South-American developing countries. After an inventory description of these measures, a gravity model is estimated. The results offer a measure of the impact of the different type of technical (i.e. labeling and standard requirement for both safety and non safety matters) and non-technical (i.e. import licensing and authorization requirements) provisions and of the different degree of application of the same measures, on the agro-food export from developing countries.

Food Policy, 2011

The worldwide spike in prices of agricultural commodities in 2007-2008 elevated food security and social stability issues to the forefront, especially in many food-deficit countries. In order to mitigate the global food commodity price pressure on domestic markets, several major exporting and importing countries, mostly developing economies, adopted trade policy changes such as export bans (or raising export restrictions) or reducing import tariffs during the same period. This paper estimates the potential impacts of these policies on the world prices and trade of major agricultural commodities using a set of multi-country, multi-commodity, and partial-equilibrium models. Our findings suggest that over all, the trade policy responses in various countries increased the prices of all agricultural commodities, although the impact on the total net trade varies by commodity. The simulation results show that the overall impact of trade policy distortions on the world rice price is most significant at 24%, followed by wheat (14%) and barley (9%). In general, the poorer food-deficit countries/regions, which have limited power to manipulate their trade policies, experienced higher price increases compared to those major trading countries that adopted policy interventions. Also, the developing countries that are net importers which did not implement trade policy interventions experienced significant welfare losses resulting from interventions implemented by other major trading countries.

annual conference of the American …, 2001

... means that the impact of export subsidy removal in the context of other distortions to production and trade may provide a more realistic assessment of welfare implications for subsidizing ... (2000). The impacts of global export subsidy removal are examined under three alternative ...

World Trade Review, 2011

Journal of International Development, 2008

The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate. This paper provides the first comprehensive empirical analysis of agricultural trade using a gravity model. The data set covers bilateral trade in agricultural goods for 152 countries over the periods 1990-93 and 1999-2002. The estimations support claims that protectionism and distortive subsidies to agriculture remain widespread in more developed nations, which are shown to import less and export more agricultural products than expected given other economic, political, and geographic determinants of trade. However, some developing regions that are often thought to be the main victims of industrial-country protectionism are also found to be relatively closed to agricultural trade. JEL Classification Numbers: F13, F14, F15