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Environmental Protectionism: The Case of CAFE

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Abstract

In 2011 the US changed its automobile fuel economy standards from a uniform, fleet-wide average, miles-per-gallon target, to one that varies with car sizes. Smaller cars now must meet stricter standards. While the motive for any policy change can be disputed, the consequence of this change looks like environmental protectionism, because the favored larger cars are disproportionately assembled in the US. The change imposes costs on imported cars equivalent to a tariff of $50 to $200 per vehicle.

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  • Arik Levinson, 2017. "Environmental Protectionism: The Case of CAFE," Working Papers gueconwpa~17-17-02, Georgetown University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:geo:guwopa:gueconwpa~17-17-02
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Josh Ederington & Jenny Minier, 2003. "Is environmental policy a secondary trade barrier? An empirical analysis," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 36(1), pages 137-154, February.
    2. Miravete, Eugenio & Moral, Maria & Thurk, Jeff, 2015. "Innovation, Emissions Policy, and Competitive Advantage in the Diffusion of European Diesel Automobiles," CEPR Discussion Papers 10783, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. McCalman, Phillip & Spearot, Alan, 2013. "Why trucks jump: Offshoring and product characteristics," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 82-95.
    4. Ashley Langer & Nathan H. Miller, 2013. "Automakers' Short-Run Responses to Changing Gasoline Prices," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(4), pages 1198-1211, October.
    5. Mark R. Jacobsen, 2013. "Evaluating US Fuel Economy Standards in a Model with Producer and Household Heterogeneity," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 148-187, May.
    6. Josh Ederington, 2001. "International Coordination of Trade and Domestic Policies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1580-1593, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Arik Levinson, 2019. "Energy Efficiency Standards Are More Regressive Than Energy Taxes: Theory and Evidence," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(S1), pages 7-36.
    2. Takumi Haibara, 2021. "One for All, All for One? Unilateral Policy Choices Reconsidered," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 41(1), pages 161-166.
    3. Caixia Shen & Yanfei Wang & Junji Xiao & Xiaolan Zhou, 2021. "Comparison Between Uniform Tariff and Progressive Consumption Tax in the Chinese Automobile Industry," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(1), pages 169-213, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Pollution; Regulations; Fuel economy; Automobiles;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade
    • Q4 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy

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