Determining Harmonised Trade Policy: Evidence from the Eurasian Customs Union

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arevik Gnutzmann-Mkrtchyan
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Customs Union

scholarly journals On Turkey's trade policy: Is a customs union with Europe enough?

1997 ◽  
Vol 41 (3-5) ◽  
pp. 871-880 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Mercenier ◽  
Erinç Yeldan
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Customs Union

scholarly journals Trade policy & imperfect competition

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ευμορφία Μακαντάση
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Product Differentiation ◽  
Policy Maker ◽  
Imperfect Competition ◽  
Capital Mobility ◽  
Customs Union ◽  
Common External Tariff ◽  
Tax Harmonization ◽  
Capital Tax ◽  
Common Trade

The continuing momentum in establishing Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) has triggered my interest in investigating some important theoretical aspects of both multilateralism and regionalism. In particular, this Ph.D. thesis approaches these aspects by using models which include imperfect competition in commodity markets, product differentiation and strategic behavior on the part of the economic decision makers (taken here to be governments and firms). Features, that is, which are widespread in the world we live in.The First Chapter of this thesis, “Product Differentiation and the ‘Most Favored Nation’ Clause” aims at offering a richer insight on the reasons that lie behind the adoption of the MFN tariffs by trading countries in a world where the bulk of trade is in differentiated products. Furthermore, this chapter attempts to shed light on the discussion regarding the interpretation of the term “like products”, which appears in numerous places in GATT legislation, beginning from Article I, and has yet to be interpreted by WTO panels and the Appellate Body. The remaining three chapters of the thesis are guided by the idea that a principal may benefit from passing authority or power to an agent who is different than herself. Various examples of the delegation decision process one might find specifically in managerial, labor and public economics. The mainstream of the notion of delegation in international trade literature has been addressed in preferential agreements such as customs union. One of the distinguishing characteristics of customs unions is that member-states commit themselves in setting a common external tariff (CET) or a subsidy in their trade with non-member countries. However, by explicitly recognizing the strategic aspects of trade policies, a member-state may find to its advantage to delegate authority to set the external policy to its partner. The determination of the optimal policy maker in the union that sets this common trade policy is investigated in the remaining three chapters of my thesis.The Second Chapter of the thesis, “Harmony and Disagreement in Customs Union: the Role of Demand”, examines how the level of demand can influence the choice of the policy maker as well as the cohesion of a customs union.An interesting, probably, insight of this chapter that could partially be a policy recommendation is that in periods of recession that lead to a fall in demand the strains between the union members and, particularly, between the more and the less cost efficient ones increase. In such cases, intra-union transfers from the “rich” to the “poor” might be needed in order to secure the stability and the cohesion of the union, to the benefit of all. In the Third Chapter, “Delegation in a Tripartite Customs Union”, the analysis of the previous chapter is extended to investigate how the delegation decision is affected in a customs union composed of three, rather than two, countries that differ in terms of cost efficiency. The Fourth Chapter, “International Capital Mobility and Delegation in Customs Union” focuses on the so-called “deep regionalism”, namely a set of non-tariff measures in areas such as competition policy, environmental standards ,investment and capital mobility. The most important motivation that has led to this chapter is the realization that many PTAs include agreements of this kind. Another motivation was the absence in the customs union literature of a theoretical connection between capital tax harmonization and delegation decisions in a customs union. In particular, this chapter investigates how the issue of the delegation decision in a CU that decides unanimously the common capital tax system and the tax rate against non-member countries, could be knitted with the tax competition and tax harmonization literature.

scholarly journals The EU as an Anchor for Turkey’s Macroeconomic and Trade Policy

2021 ◽  
pp. 295-322
Author(s):  
Mehmet Sait Akman ◽  
Semih Emre Çekin
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
European Council ◽  
Customs Union ◽  
Turkish Economy ◽  
Policy Arena ◽  
The Eu

AbstractEU–Turkey relations have been subject to manifold ups and downs for decades. The EU’s role in Turkey’s domestic transformation has long been a matter of interest to the academic community. This chapter examines to what extent and under what conditions the EU has served as an anchor for the Turkish economy during the last two decades, focusing on the effects of the EU anchor on Turkey’s macroeconomic and trade policy. It finds that maintaining a European anchor after the Helsinki European Council helped Turkey realize much-desired comprehensive macroeconomic reforms, especially during times when the EU anchor was combined with another multilateral anchor. Nevertheless, the EU’s anchor-providing role has not been consistent and amidst changing political circumstances it is no longer considered an ‘elixir’ for the Turkish economy. The establishment of the Customs Union (CU) is revealed to have been a significant driver of the transformation of Turkey’s trade policy. While the trade partnership remains one of the few well-functioning aspects of the volatile bilateral dialogue between the EU and Turkey, the EU’s role in the trade policy arena is diminishing, and the upgrading of the CU remains vital to achieve further momentum and enhance mutual gains.

Russia in Customs Union and WTO: New in Trade Policy

2011 ◽  
pp. 22-30
Author(s):  
V. Obolenskiy
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Trade ◽  
Trade Policy ◽  
Custom Union ◽  
Customs Union ◽  
Regulatory Instruments ◽  
International Obligations ◽  
The Creation ◽  
National Trade

The creation of Custom Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, as well as Russia's upcoming accession to the WTO, poses a number of questions that the author attempts to answer in this article. These include: what restrictions on the national trade policy are imposed by the membership in these organizations; what are the effects of Russia's participation in the WTO on the foreign trade management; what regulatory instruments and supportive measures Russia can use without violating its new international obligations?

scholarly journals Estimation of Belarus Trade Policy Liberalization Process Following Customs Union

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 110-131
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Purchasing Power Parity ◽  
Relative Price ◽  
Purchasing Power ◽  
Customs Union ◽  
Power Parity ◽  
Dummy Variable ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Global Classification ◽  
The Impact

The research assesses the process of liberalization of trade policy of Belarus after the creation of the Customs Union (CU) due to the liberalization of non-tariff barriers. Evaluation is carried out using an error correction model with relative price changes based on the theory of purchasing power parity (PPP). In the first part of the article, a global classification of non-tariff measures developed on the basis of UNCTAD is given, and so are examples of non-tariff restrictions applied by Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. It also describes the research aiming to assess the impact of trade liberalization on wealth and economic growth. The second part contains a theoretical rationale for the model, construction of which is based on purchasing power parity in violation of the “law of one price”. The third part of the work contains a direct econometric estimation of the model. Before estimation the model is applied to prove model assumptions: in particular, the significance of the dummy variable implies liberalization of non-tariff measures, rather than a reduction of the customs tariff; non-tradable sectors are the same in the partner countries, and therefore the change of their prices is not evaluated. The result of the empirical analysis is the revealed inertness of the liberalization of non-tariff barriers in Belarus, as evidenced by the liberalization not since the creation of the Customs Union, but after several quarters. It also revealed the stimulation of consumption of imported products as a result of a decrease in their price due to liberalization.

Euroasian Economic Union at Present Stage

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 70-76
Author(s):  
S. Mikhnevich
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Trade ◽  
Trade Policy ◽  
Market Access ◽  
Agricultural Products ◽  
Customs Union ◽  
Foreign Trade Policy ◽  
Eurasian Economic Union ◽  
Global Trend ◽  
Economic Union ◽  
Textiles And Clothing

The article analyzed the ways to improve the foreign trade policy of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in connection with the accession of Armenia and Kyrgyzstan to this integration association. To achieve this goal the obligations of Armenia and Kyrgyzstan in the framework of the WTO are compared with the Russia's ones. Such comparison is required because the EAEU implements its Treaty “On functioning of Customs Union within the framework of the Multilateral Trading System” as of May 19, 2011. Pursuant to Article 1 of this Treaty, the Russian obligations under the WTO serve as basis for the foreign trade policy pursued by the EAEU. Amid a variety of Russia’s, Armenia’s and Kyrgyzstan’s obligations the author stresses those concerning market access for goods. These obligations will be most meaningful in the mid-run from the perspective of economic development of the EAEU. The levels of applied duties, as well as the levels of bound duties were compared for the main groups of agricultural and non-agricultural products. The analysis of applied duties showed that the EAEC market at whole is better protected than the Armenian and Kyrgyz national markets with regard to an overwhelming majority of product groups. The EAEU has been particularly focused on the protection of the agricultural market, as well as on such product groups as textiles and clothing, wood and related products. At the same time, the analysis of the bound rates for the main groups of agricultural and non-agricultural products points to the fact that, if necessary, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan have certain room to increase the customs duties up to the bound levels. A conclusion has been drawn that the harmonization of the WTO obligations assumed by Russia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan will lead to a certain weakening of tariff protection in the EAEC market. However, the weakening will be insignificant (the average level of the bound customs duties is expected to fall by 2-2.5 per cent points), following the global trend of trade liberalization.

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