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Do Free Trade Agreements Affect Tariffs of Nonmember Countries? A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation

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  • Kamal Saggi
  • Andrey Stoyanov
  • Halis Murat Yildiz

Abstract

We investigate the effects of free trade agreements (FTAs) on tariffs of non-member countries. In our multi-country model, the formation of an FTA leads members to reduce their exports to the rest of the world. Such external trade diversion weakens the ability of non-members to manipulate their terms of trade vis-a-vis FTA members, a mechanism that induces them to lower their tariffs on FTA members. We empirically confirm this insight using industry-level trade data for 192 importing and 253 exporting countries, along with information on all FTAs formed in the world during 1989-2011.

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  • Kamal Saggi & Andrey Stoyanov & Halis Murat Yildiz, 2018. "Do Free Trade Agreements Affect Tariffs of Nonmember Countries? A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(3), pages 128-170, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:10:y:2018:i:3:p:128-70
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/app.20150360
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    Cited by:

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    2. Harold D Chiang & Yukun Ma & Joel Rodrigue & Yuya Sasaki, 2021. "Dyadic double/debiased machine learning for analyzing determinants of free trade agreements," Papers 2110.04365, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2022.
    3. Mei, Yuan, 2020. "Sustainable cooperation in international trade: A quantitative analysis," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    4. Kuenzel, David J. & Sharma, Rishi R., 2021. "Preferential trade agreements and MFN tariffs: Global evidence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    5. Olena Sokolovska & Dmytro Sokolovskyi, 2017. "Efficient Government Trade Behavior and Its Implication for Small Developing Economy: The Case of Ukraine," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 2, pages 64-81.
    6. Akira Okada & Yasuhiro Shirata, 2021. "The Formation of Global Free Trade Agreement," Papers 2103.16118, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2021.
    7. Moise Nken & Halis Murat Yildiz, 2017. "Implications of multilateral tariff bindings on the formation of preferential trade agreements and quest for global free trade," Working Papers 068, Ryerson University, Department of Economics.
    8. Lukaszuk, Piotr & Legge, Stefan, 2019. "Which Factors Determine the Utilization of Preferential Tariff Rates?," VfS Annual Conference 2019 (Leipzig): 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Democracy and Market Economy 203639, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    9. Moïse Nken & Halis Murat Yildiz, 2022. "Implications of multilateral tariff bindings on the extent of preferential trade agreement formation," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 73(1), pages 301-347, February.
    10. Gu, Ke & Stoyanov, Andrey, 2018. "Skills, Population Aging, and the Pattern of Trade," MPRA Paper 84349, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Xi He, 2022. "Regional Trade Agreements and Excluded Countries," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(1), pages 428-449, January.
    12. Sokolovska, Olena & Sokolovskyi, Dmytro, 2016. "Optimization of government trade behavior and its implication for small developing economy (the case of Ukraine)," MPRA Paper 71983, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade

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    1. Do Free Trade Agreements Affect Tariffs of Nonmember Countries? A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation (American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 2018) in ReplicationWiki

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