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Chapter
5 Outline
Chapter Summary
This chapter described how the reality of international
trade deviates from the theoretical ideal of unrestricted free trade that
we reviewed in Chapter 4. In this chapter, we reviewed the various instruments
of trade policy, reviewed the political and economic arguments for government
intervention in international trade, reexamined the economic case for
free trade in light of the strategic trade policy argument, and looked
at the evolution of the world trading framework. We concluded that, while
a policy of free trade may not always be the theoretically optimal policy
(given the arguments of the new trade theorists), in practice it is probably
the best policy for a government to pursue. The long-run interests of
businesses and consumers may be best served by strengthening international
institutions such as the WTO and the GATT. Given the danger that isolated
protectionism might escalate into a trade war, business probably has far
more to gain from government efforts to open protected markets to imports
and foreign direct investment (through the WTO) than from government efforts
to protect domestic industries from foreign competition.
This chapter made the following points:
- The effect of a tariff is to raise the cost of imported
products. Gains accrue to the government (from revenues) and to producers
(who are protected from foreign competitors). Consumers lose because
they must pay more for imports.
- By lowering costs, subsidies help domestic producers
compete against low-cost foreign imports and gain export markets. However,
subsidies must be paid for by taxpayers. They also tend to be captured
by special interests who use them to protect the inefficient.
- An import quota is a direct restriction imposed by an
importing country on the quantity of some good that may be imported.
A voluntary export restraint (VER) is a quota on trade imposed from
the exporting country's side. Both import quotas and VERs benefit domestic
producers by limiting import competition, but they result in higher
prices, which hurts consumers.
- A local content requirement demands that some specific
fraction of a good be produced domestically. Local content requirements
benefit the producers of component parts, but they raise prices
of imported components, which hurts consumers.
- An administrative policy is an informal instrument or
bureaucratic rule that can be used to restrict imports and boost exports.
Such policies benefit producers but hurt consumers, who are denied access
to possibly superior foreign products.
- There are two types of arguments for government intervention
in international trade: political and economic. Political arguments
for intervention are concerned with protecting the interests of certain
groups, often at the expense of other groups, or with promoting goals
with regard to foreign policy, human rights, consumer protection, and
the like. Economic arguments for intervention are about boosting the
overall wealth of a nation.
- The most common political argument for intervention is
that it is necessary to protect jobs. However, political intervention
often hurts consumers and it can be self-defeating.
- Countries sometimes argue that it is important to protect
certain industries for reasons of national security.
- Some argue that government should use the threat to intervene
in trade policy as a bargaining tool to open foreign markets. This can
be a risky policy; if it fails the result can be higher trade barriers.
- The infant industry argument for government intervention
is that governments should temporarily support new industries to let
manufacturing get a toehold. In practice, however, governments often
end up protecting the inefficient.
- Strategic trade policy suggests that with subsidies,
governments can help domestic firms gain first-mover advantages in global
industries where economies of scale are important. Government subsidies
may also help domestic firms overcome barriers to entry into such industries.
- The problems with strategic trade policy are twofold:
(i) Such a policy may
invite retaliation, in which case all will lose, and (ii)
strategic trade policy may be captured by special interest groups, who
will distort it to their own ends.
- The Smoot-Hawley tariff, introduced in 1930, erected
an enormous wall of barriers to US imports. Other countries responded
by adopting similar tariffs, and the world slid further into the Great
Depression.
- The GATT was a product of the post-war free trade movement.
The GATT was successful in lowering trade barriers on manufactured goods
and commodities. The move toward greater free trade under the GATT appeared
to stimulate economic growth.
- The completion of the Uruguay Round of GATT talks and
the establishment of the World Trade Organization have strengthened
the world trading
system by extending GATT rules to services, increasing
protection for intellectual property, reducing agricultural subsidies,
and enhancing monitoring and enforcement mechanisms.
- Trade barriers constrain a firm's ability to disperse
its various production activities to optimal locations around the globe.
One response to trade barriers is to establish more production activities
in the protected country.
- Business may have more to gain from government efforts to open protected
markets to imports and foreign direct investment than from government
efforts to protect domestic industries from foreign competition.
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