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Trade polices for electronic commerce

Author

Listed:
  • Mattoo, Aaditya
  • Schuknecht, Ludger

Abstract

Some countries in the World Trade Organization initially opposed WTO's decision to exempt electronic delivery of products from customs duties, out of concern for the revenue consequences. Others supported the decision as a means of securing open trading conditions. The authors argue that neither the inhibitions nor the enthusiasm is fully justified. First, even if all delivery of digitizable media products moved on-line--an unlikely prospect--the revenue loss for most countries would be small. More important, however, the prohibition of customs duties does not ensure continued open access for electronically delivered products and may even prompt recourse to inferior instruments of protection. Barrier-free electronic commerce would be more effectively secured by deepening and widening the limited cross-border trade commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), and by clarifying and strengthening certain GATS disciplines.

Suggested Citation

  • Mattoo, Aaditya & Schuknecht, Ludger, 2000. "Trade polices for electronic commerce," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2380, The World Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:2380
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Schuknecht, Ludger & Pérez-Esteve, Rosa, 1999. "A quantitative assessment of electronic commerce," WTO Staff Working Papers ERAD-99-01, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    2. Arvind Panagariya, 2000. "E‐Commerce, WTO and Developing Countries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(8), pages 959-978, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Finger, J. Michael & Schuknecht, Ludger, 1999. "Market access advances and retreats : the Uruguay Round and beyond," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2232, The World Bank.
    2. Mattoo, Aaditya & Subramanian, Arvind, 2000. "India and the multilateral trading system after Seattle - toward a proactive role," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2379, The World Bank.
    3. Aaditya Mattoo & Robert M. Stern, 2003. "India and the WTO," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 15082, December.
    4. -, 2002. "Electronic commerce, international trade and employment: review of the issues," Oficina de la CEPAL en Washington (Estudios e Investigaciones) 28809, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    5. Langhammer, Rolf J., 2003. "Das GATS: noch kein Liberalisierungsmotor für den internationalen Dienstleistungshandel," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 3013, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    6. Krancke, Jan, 2000. "Marktordnung und Barrieren im grenzüberschreitenden Handel mit Kommunikationsdienstleistungen: Dienstleistungen der Informationstechnologie," Kiel Working Papers 1008, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).

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