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More trade for better health? International trade and tariffs on health products

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  • Helble, Matthias

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to analyse trade flows and tariff policies of health products. Compared to previous studies, we not only focus on medicines, but on a large set of products that enter the public health space and can be identified in the common trade classification. The first contribution is thus to construct three groups of health products based on the 2007 Harmonized System classification of international trade. Using these commodity groups, we analyse trade flows between 167 countries for the years 1996 to 2009. We find that trade in health products has developed very dynamically, with trade in dosified medicine displaying the strongest growth with an annual growth rate of almost 12 per cent. The results further indicate that the market of health products is dominated by a small number of developed countries. Looking at tariffs on health products for developed and developing countries as well as LDCs and transition economies we find that the overall level of tariffs is low, but far from being zero, especially in the last three country groups. Finally, studying the tariffs on health products in preferential trade agreements between developing countries, the results show that the tariff level is low, but in some individual cases still substantive.

Suggested Citation

  • Helble, Matthias, 2012. "More trade for better health? International trade and tariffs on health products," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2012-17, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:wtowps:ersd201217
    DOI: 10.30875/4bfd1f50-en
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    Cited by:

    1. Pierre Cotterlaz & Guillaume Gaulier & Aude Sztulmac & Deniz Ünal, 2024. "Pioneering a New Classification: a Comprehensive Study of Healthcare Products in Global Trade," Working papers 963, Banque de France.
    2. Jan Grumiller & Hannes Grohs & Christian Reiner, 2021. "“Increasing the resilience and security of supply ofproduction post-COVID-19” - The Case of Medical and Pharmaceutical Products," Working Paper Reihe der AK Wien - Materialien zu Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft 216, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik.
    3. Helble, Matthias & Shepherd, Benjamin, 2017. "Trade in Health Products: Reducing Trade Barriers for Better Health," ADBI Working Papers 643, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    4. -, 2020. "Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean 2020," La Inversión Extranjera Directa en América Latina y el Caribe, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 46541 edited by Eclac, May.
    5. Fuchs, Andreas & Kaplan, Lennart & Kis-Katos, Krisztina & Schmidt, Sebastian S. & Turbanisch, Felix & Wang, Feicheng, 2022. "Tracking Chinese aid through China customs: Darlings and orphans after the COVID-19 outbreak," Kiel Working Papers 2232, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    6. Pierre Cotterlaz & Guillaume Gaulier & Aude Sztulmac & Deniz Ünal, 2024. "Pioneering a New Classification: a Comprehensive Study of Healthcare Products in Global Trade," Working papers 963, Banque de France.
    7. Grumiller, Jan & Grohs, Hannes & Reiner, Christian, 2021. "Increasing resilience and security of supply production post-COVID-19: from global to regional value chains? Case studies on medical and pharmaceutical products," Research Reports 12/2021, Austrian Foundation for Development Research (ÖFSE).
    8. Ayona Bhattacharjee & Rupa Chanda, 2023. "Trade in health products and population health: A long‐run relation," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 182-207, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public health; tariffs; trade; pharmaceuticals; medical devices; medical technology;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • O24 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Trade Policy; Factor Movement; Foreign Exchange Policy

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