IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/aejpol/v2y2010i3p111-33.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Trade Restrictiveness and Deadweight Losses from US Tariffs

Author

Listed:
  • Douglas A. Irwin

Abstract

This paper calculates a trade restrictiveness index, i.e., the uniform tariff that yields the same welfare loss as an existing tariff structure, for nearly a century of US data. The results show that the average tariff understates the TRI by about 75 percent. The static deadweight loss from US tariffs is about 1 percent of GDP after the Civil War, but falls almost continuously thereafter to less than one-tenth of 1 percent of GDP. Import duties produced an average welfare loss of 40 cents for every dollar of revenue, slightly higher than contemporary estimates of the marginal cost of taxation. (JEL F13, N71, N72)

Suggested Citation

  • Douglas A. Irwin, 2010. "Trade Restrictiveness and Deadweight Losses from US Tariffs," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 111-133, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejpol:v:2:y:2010:i:3:p:111-33
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/pol.2.3.111
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/pol.2.3.111
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/pol/data/2009-0002_data.zip
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to AEA members and institutional subscribers.
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hugh M. Arce & Kenneth A. Reinert, 1994. "Aggregation and the Welfare Analysis of US Tariffs," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 21(6), pages 26-30, October.
    2. James E. Anderson & J. Peter Neary, 2005. "Measuring the Restrictiveness of International Trade Policy," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262012200, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Joseph S Shapiro, 2021. "The Environmental Bias of Trade Policy," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(2), pages 831-886.
    2. Chad P. Bown & Douglas A. Irwin, 2015. "The GATT's Starting Point: Tariff Levels circa 1947," NBER Working Papers 21782, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Xu, Jin & Huang, Shoujun & Shi, Lu & Sharma, Susan Sunila, 2021. "Trade conflicts and energy firms' market values: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    4. Eugene Beaulieu & Jevan Cherniwchan, 2014. "Tariff Structure, Trade Expansion, and Canadian Protectionism, 1870–1910," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(1), pages 144-172, February.
    5. Meissner, Christopher M., 2014. "Growth from Globalization? A View from the Very Long Run," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 8, pages 1033-1069, Elsevier.
    6. Cagé, Julia & Gadenne, Lucie, 2018. "Tax revenues and the fiscal cost of trade liberalization, 1792–2006," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 1-24.
    7. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/6flqrv4et09btppk9s58qgp979 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Ian Keay, 2019. "Protection for maturing industries: Evidence from Canadian trade patterns and trade policy, 1870–1913," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(4), pages 1464-1496, November.
    9. Luke H. Grayson & Brian D. Varian, 2023. "Economic Aspects of Australian Federation: Trade Restrictiveness and Welfare Effects in the Colonies and the Commonwealth, 1901-3," CEH Discussion Papers 01, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    10. Kym Anderson & Johanna Croser, 2011. "Novel indicators of the trade and welfare effects of agricultural distortions in OECD countries," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 147(2), pages 269-302, June.
    11. Zhang, Daowei & Nguyen, Ly, 2018. "Tariff and U.S. Paper Products Trade," 2018 Annual Meeting, February 2-6, 2018, Jacksonville, Florida 266771, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    12. William Coleman, 2017. "Weighing the Significance of World War I for the Australian Economy," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 50(3), pages 278-293, July.
    13. Trevor Tombe, 2010. "The Missing Food Problem: How Low Agricultural Imports Contribute to International Income and Productivity Differences," Working Papers tecipa-416, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    14. Douglas A. Irwin, 2019. "U.S. Trade Policy in Historical Perspective," NBER Working Papers 26256, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Jason H. Grant & Shawn Arita & Charlotte Emlinger & Robert Johansson & Chaoping Xie, 2021. "Agricultural exports and retaliatory trade actions: An empirical assessment of the 2018/2019 trade conflict," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(2), pages 619-640, June.
    16. Bo Chen & Hong Ma & David S. Jacks, 2017. "Revisiting the Effective Rate of Protection in the Late Stages of Chinese Industrialisation," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 424-438, February.
    17. Timini, Jacopo & Conesa, Marina, 2019. "Chinese Exports and Non-Tariff Measures: Testing for Heterogeneous Effects at the Product Level," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 34(2), pages 327-345.
    18. Kym Anderson, 2016. "Contributions Of The Gatt/Wto To Global Economic Welfare: Empirical Evidence," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 56-92, February.
    19. Patrick Alexander & Ian Keay, 2018. "Responding to the First Era of Globalization: Canadian Trade Policy, 1870–1913," Staff Working Papers 18-42, Bank of Canada.
    20. Alexander, Patrick D. & Keay, Ian, 2018. "A general equilibrium analysis of Canada’s national policy," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 1-15.
    21. William Coleman, 2015. "Was the First World War Disturbing or Reinforcing of Australia's Economic Model?," CEH Discussion Papers 034, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    22. Evans, Olaniyi, 2019. "The effects of US-China trade war and Trumponomics," MPRA Paper 93682, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    23. Cagé, Julia & Gadenne, Lucie, 2018. "Tax revenues and the fiscal cost of trade liberalization, 1792–2006," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 1-24.
    24. Chen, Bo & Ma, Hong & Xu, Yuan, 2014. "Measuring China’s trade liberalization: A generalized measure of trade restrictiveness index," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 994-1006.
    25. Anson Soderbery, 2021. "Trade restrictiveness indexes and welfare: A structural approach," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(3), pages 1018-1045, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Douglas A. Irwin, 2007. "Trade Restrictiveness and Deadweight Losses from U.S. Tariffs, 1859-1961," NBER Working Papers 13450, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Anderson, James E. & Yotov, Yoto V., 2016. "Terms of trade and global efficiency effects of free trade agreements, 1990–2002," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 279-298.
    3. Julian Emami Namini & Ricardo A. López, 2013. "Factor price overshooting with trade liberalization: theory and evidence," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 60(2), pages 139-181, May.
    4. James E. Anderson, 2011. "The Gravity Model," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 3(1), pages 133-160, September.
    5. Hiau LooiKee & Alessandro Nicita & Marcelo Olarreaga, 2009. "Estimating Trade Restrictiveness Indices," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(534), pages 172-199, January.
    6. Maria Cipollina & Luca Salvatici, 2008. "Measuring Protection: Mission Impossible?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 577-616, July.
    7. McDonald, Scott & Thierfelder, Karen, 2009. "SADC Integration and the EU’s Economic Partnership Agreements," Conference papers 331845, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    8. Falvey, Rod & Foster, Neil & Greenaway, David, 2012. "Trade Liberalization, Economic Crises, and Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(11), pages 2177-2193.
    9. Vikram Nehru, 2013. "Manufacturing in India and Indonesia: performance and policies," Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(1), pages 35-60, April.
    10. Chad P. Bown & Douglas A. Irwin, 2015. "The GATT's Starting Point: Tariff Levels circa 1947," NBER Working Papers 21782, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Chen, Natalie & Novy, Dennis, 2012. "On the measurement of trade costs: direct vs. indirect approaches to quantifying standards and technical regulations," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(3), pages 401-414, July.
    12. Jorge García-García & Enrique Montes-Uribe & Iader Giraldo-Salazar (ed.), 2019. "Comercio exterior en Colombia: política, instituciones, costos y resultados," Books, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, number 2019-isbn:9789586644068, July.
    13. Kym Anderson & Johan Swinnen, 2008. "Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Europe's Transition Economies," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6502, December.
    14. John Christopher Beghin & Anne-Célia Disdier & Stéphan Marette, 2017. "Trade restrictiveness indices in the presence of externalities: An application to non-tariff measures," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: John Christopher Beghin (ed.), Nontariff Measures and International Trade, chapter 5, pages 81-104, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    15. Bureau Jean-Christophe & Salvatici Luca, 2004. "WTO Negotiations on Market Access in Agriculture: a Comparison of Alternative Tariff Cut Proposals for the EU and the US," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 1-35, March.
    16. Lloyd, Peter J. & Croser, Johanna L. & Anderson, Kym, 2009. "Global distortions to agricultural markets : new indicators of trade and welfare impacts, 1955 to 2007," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4865, The World Bank.
    17. Pascalis Raimondos-Møller & Alan Woodland, 2014. "Steepest ascent tariff reform," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 55(1), pages 69-99, January.
    18. Timothy M. Peterson & Cameron G. Thies, 2014. "The Demand for Protectionism: Democracy, Import Elasticity, and Trade Barriers," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 103-126, January.
    19. Zissimos, Ben, 2009. "Optimum tariffs and retaliation: How country numbers matter," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 276-286, July.
    20. Alessandro Olper & Valentina Raimondi, 2008. "Market Access Asymmetry in Food Trade," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 144(3), pages 509-537, October.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • N71 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • N72 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

    Lists

    This item is featured on the following reading lists, Wikipedia, or ReplicationWiki pages:
    1. Trade Restrictiveness and Deadweight Losses from US Tariffs (American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 2010) in ReplicationWiki

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aea:aejpol:v:2:y:2010:i:3:p:111-33. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Michael P. Albert (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aeaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.