The GATT's Starting Point: Tariff Levels circa 1947 / Chad P. Bown, Douglas A. Irwin.

By:

Bown, Chad P

Contributor(s):

Material type: Text

TextSeries: Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) ; no. w21782.Publication details: Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2015.Description: 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white)Subject(s):

F13 - Trade Policy • International Trade Organizations

Online resources:

Available additional physical forms:

Hardcopy version available to institutional subscribers

Abstract: How high were import tariffs when GATT participants began negotiations to reduce them in 1947? Establishing this starting point is key to determining how successful the GATT has been in bringing down trade barriers. If the average tariff level was about 40 percent, as commonly reported, the implied early tariff reductions were substantial, but this number has never been verified. This paper examines the evidence on tariff levels in the late 1940s and early 1950s and finds that the average tariff level going into the first Geneva Round of 1947 was about 22 percent. We also find that tariffs fell by relatively more in the late 1940s and early 1950s for a core group of GATT participants (the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia) than they did for many other important countries, including the set of other (non-core) GATT participants.

Tags from this library: No tags from this library for this title. Log in to add tags.

Average rating: 0.0 (0 votes)

Holdings
Item type	Home library	Collection	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode	Item holds
Working Paper	Biblioteca Digital	Colección NBER	nber w21782 (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Not For Loan

Total holds: 0

Collection: Colección NBER Close shelf browser (Hides shelf browser)

Previous	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	Next
Previous	nber w2178 The Theory and the Facts of How Markets Clear: Is Industrial Organization Valuable for Understanding Macroeconomics? /	nber w21780 Listen to your Doctor, or else!: Medication Under-use and Overuse and Long-term Health Outcomes of Danish Diabetes Patients /	nber w21781 Improving College Access in the United States: Barriers and Policy Responses /	nber w21782 The GATT's Starting Point: Tariff Levels circa 1947 /	nber w21783 Externalities and Benefit Design in Health Insurance /	nber w21784 Short-Term Pain for Long-Term Gain: Market Deregulation and Monetary Policy in Small Open Economies /	nber w21785 Colonial Virginia’s Paper Money Regime, 1755-1774: a Forensic Accounting Reconstruction of the Data /	Next

December 2015.

How high were import tariffs when GATT participants began negotiations to reduce them in 1947? Establishing this starting point is key to determining how successful the GATT has been in bringing down trade barriers. If the average tariff level was about 40 percent, as commonly reported, the implied early tariff reductions were substantial, but this number has never been verified. This paper examines the evidence on tariff levels in the late 1940s and early 1950s and finds that the average tariff level going into the first Geneva Round of 1947 was about 22 percent. We also find that tariffs fell by relatively more in the late 1940s and early 1950s for a core group of GATT participants (the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia) than they did for many other important countries, including the set of other (non-core) GATT participants.