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Chapter 9

The Political Economy of Trade Policy

Prepared by Iordanis Petsas

To Accompany

International Economics: Theory and Policy, Sixth Edition

by Paul R. Krugman and Maurice Obstfeld

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Chapter Organization

Introduction
The Case for Free Trade
National Welfare Arguments against Free Trade
Income Distribution and Trade Policy
International Negotiations and Trade Policy
Summary
Appendix: Proving that the Optimum Tariff is Positive

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Introduction

Free trade maximizes national welfare, but it is associated with income distributional effects.

Most governments maintain some form of restrictive trade policies.
This chapter examines some of the reasons governments either should not or do not base their policy on economists’ cost-benefit calculations.

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Introduction

What reasons are there for governments not to interfere with trade?

There are three arguments in favor of free trade:

Free trade and efficiency
Economies of scale in production
Political argument

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The Case for Free Trade

Free Trade and Efficiency

The efficiency argument for free trade is based on the result that in the case of a small country, free trade is the best policy.

A tariff causes a net loss to the economy.
A move from a tariff equilibrium to free trade eliminates the efficiency loss and increases national welfare.

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World price

plus tariff

World price

Price, P

Quantity, Q

Consumption

distortion

Production

distortion

Figure 9-1: The Efficiency Case for Free Trade

The Case for Free Trade

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The Case for Free Trade

Table 9-1: Estimated Cost of Protection,

as a Percentage of National Income

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Additional Gains from Free Trade

Protected markets in small countries do not allow firms to exploit scale economies.

Example: In the auto industry, an efficient scale assembly should make a minimum of 80,000 cars per year.

In Argentina, 13 firms produced a total of 166,000 cars per year.

The presence of scale economies favors free trade that generates more varieties and results in lower prices.
Free trade, as opposed to “managed” trade, provides a wider range of opportunities and thus a wider scope for innovation.

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The Case for Free Trade

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Political Argument for Free Trade

A political commitment to free trade may be a good idea in practice.
Trade policies in practice are dominated by special-interest politics rather than consideration of national costs and benefits.

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The Case for Free Trade

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Activist trade policies can sometimes increase the welfare of the nation as a whole.
There are two theoretical arguments against the policy of free trade:

The terms of trade argument for a tariff
The domestic market failure

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National Welfare Arguments

Against Free Trade

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The Terms of Trade Argument for a Tariff

For a large country (that is, a country that can affect the world price through trading), a tariff lowers the price of imports and generates a terms of trade benefit.

This benefit must be compared to the costs of the tariff (production and consumption distortions).

It is possible that the terms of trade benefits of a tariff outweigh its costs.

Therefore, free trade might not be the best policy for a large country.

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National Welfare Arguments

Against Free Trade

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National welfare

Tariff rate

Optimum

tariff, t_o

Prohibitive

tariff rate, t_p

Figure 9-2: The Optimum Tariff

National Welfare Arguments

Against Free Trade

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Optimum tariff

The tariff rate that maximizes national welfare
It is always positive but less than the prohibitive rate that would eliminate all imports.
It is zero for a small country because it cannot affect its terms of trade.

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National Welfare Arguments

Against Free Trade

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What policy would the terms of trade argument dictate for export sectors?

An export subsidy worsens the terms of trade, and therefore unambiguously reduces national welfare.

Therefore, the optimal policy in export sectors must be a negative subsidy, that is, a tax on exports.

Like the optimum tariff, the optimum export tax is always positive but less than the prohibitive tax that would eliminate exports completely.

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National Welfare Arguments

Against Free Trade

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The Domestic Market Failure Argument Against Free Trade

Producer and consumer surplus do not properly measure social costs and benefits.

Consumer and producer surplus ignore domestic market failures such as:

Unemployment or underemployment of labor
Technological spillovers from industries that are new or particularly innovative
Environmental externalities

A tariff may raise welfare if there is a marginal social benefit to production of a good that is not captured by producer surplus measures.

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National Welfare Arguments

Against Free Trade

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S¹

S²

D²

D¹

P_W + t

P_W

Price, P

Quantity, Q

Dollars

Quantity, Q

(a)

(b)

Figure 9-3: The Domestic Market Failure Argument for a Tariff

National Welfare Arguments

Against Free Trade

Marginal

social

benefit

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The domestic market failure argument against free trade is a particular case of the theory of the second best.

The theory of the second best states that a hands-off policy is desirable in any one market only if all other markets are working properly.

If one market fails to work properly, a government intervention may actually increase welfare.

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National Welfare Arguments

Against Free Trade

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How Convincing Is the Market Failure Argument?

The are two basic arguments in defense of free trade in the presence of domestic distortions:

Domestic distortions should be corrected with domestic (as opposed to international trade) policies.

Example: A domestic production subsidy is superior to a tariff in dealing with a production-related market failure.

Market failures are hard to diagnose and measure.

Example: A tariff to protect urban industrial sectors will generate social benefits, but it will also encourage migration to these sectors that will result in higher unemployment.

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National Welfare Arguments

Against Free Trade

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In practice, trade policy is dominated by income distribution considerations.

The desires of individuals get more or less imperfectly reflected in the objectives of government.

There exist models in which governments try to maximize political success.

Electoral Competition

Political scientists argue that policies are determined by competition among political parties that try to attract as many votes as possible.

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Income Distribution

and Trade Policy

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Assumptions of the model:

There are two competing political parties.
The objective of each party is to get elected.
Each party has to decide on the level of the tariff imposed (this is the only policy available).
Voters differ in the tariff they prefer.

What policies will the two parties promise to follow?

Both parties will offer the same policy consisting of the tariff that the median voter (the voter who is exactly halfway up the lineup) prefers.

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Income Distribution

and Trade Policy

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Voters

Preferred tariff rate

Median

voter

t_M

t_B

t_A

Political support

Income Distribution

and Trade Policy

Figure 9-4: Political Competition

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Collective Action

This approach views political activity as a public good.

For instance, the imposition of a tariff protects all firms in an industry, but the lobbying costs for imposing the tariff are covered by only a few firms.

Trade policies that impose total large losses that are spread among many individual firms or consumers may not face opposition.

Industries that are well organized (or have a small number of firms) get protection.

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Income Distribution

and Trade Policy

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Modeling the Political Process

Interest groups “buy” policies by offering contributions contingent on the policies followed by the government.

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Income Distribution

and Trade Policy

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Who Gets Protected?

Two sectors seem to get protected in advanced countries:

Agriculture

Farmers are well organized and the structure of the U.S. government enhances their political power.

Clothing

Both textiles and apparel have enjoyed substantial protection. This sector employs less skilled workers and it is unionized as well.

Protection is very likely to diminish in the future in both sectors (due to international trade negotiations).

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Income Distribution

and Trade Policy

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Income Distribution

and Trade Policy

Table 9-2: Effects of Protection in the United States ($ billion)

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International Negotiations �and Trade Policy

International integration has increased from the mid-1930s until about 1980 because the United States and other advanced countries gradually removed tariffs and nontariff barriers to trade.

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International Negotiations �and Trade Policy

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Figure 9-5: The U.S. Tariff Rate

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International Negotiations �and Trade Policy

How was the removal of tariffs politically possible?

The postwar liberalization of trade was achieved through international negotiation.

Governments agreed to engage in mutual tariff reduction.

The Advantages of Negotiation

It is easier to lower tariffs as part of a mutual agreement than to do so as a unilateral policy because:

It helps mobilize exporters to support freer trade.
It can help governments avoid getting caught in destructive trade wars.

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International Negotiations �and Trade Policy

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Japan

U.S.

-5

-10

Free trade

Protection

Table 9-3: The Problem of Trade Warfare

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International Negotiations �and Trade Policy

In Table 9-3, each country has a dominant strategy: Protection.
Even though each country acting individually would be better off with protection, they would both be better off if both chose free trade.

In game theory, this situation is known as a Prisoner’s dilemma.
Japan and the U.S. can establish a binding agreement to maintain free trade.

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International Negotiations �and Trade Policy

International Trade Agreements: A Brief History

Internationally coordinated tariff reduction as a trade policy dates back to the 1930s (the Smoot-Hawley Act).
The multilateral tariff reductions since World War II have taken place under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), established in 1947 and located in Geneva.

It is now called the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The GATT-WTO system is a legal organization that embodies a set of rules of conduct for international trade policy.

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International Negotiations �and Trade Policy

The GATT-WTO system prohibits the imposition of:

Export Subsidies (except for agricultural products)
Import quotas (except when imports threaten “market disruption”)
Tariffs (any new tariff or increase in a tariff must be offset by reductions in other tariffs to compensate the affected exporting countries)

Trade round

A large group of countries get together to negotiate a set of tariff reductions and other measures to liberalize trade.

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International Negotiations �and Trade Policy

Eight trade rounds have occurred since 1947:

The first five of these took the form of “parallel” bilateral negotiations (e.g., Germany with France and Italy).
The sixth multilateral trade agreement, known as the Kennedy Round, was completed in 1967:

This agreement involved an across-the-board 50% reduction in tariffs by the major industrial countries, except for specified industries whose tariffs were left unchanged.
Overall, the Kennedy Round reduced average tariffs by about 35%.

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International Negotiations �and Trade Policy

The so-called Tokyo round of trade negotiations (completed in 1979) resulted in:

Reduced tariffs
New codes for controlling the proliferation of nontariff barriers, such as VER’s.

An eighth round of negotiations, the so-called Uruguay Round, was competed in 1994.

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International Negotiations �and Trade Policy

The Uruguay Round

Its most important results are:

Trade liberalization
Administrative reforms

Trade Liberalization

The average tariff imposed by advanced countries decreased by almost 40%.

More important is the move to liberalize trade in two important sectors: agricultural and clothing.

From the GATT to the WTO

Much of the publicity surrounding the Uruguay Round focused on its creation of the WTO.

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International Negotiations �and Trade Policy

How different is the WTO from the GATT?

The GATT was a provisional agreement, while the WTO is a full-fledged international organization.
The GATT applied only to trade in goods, while the WTO included rules on trade in services (the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)) and on international application of international property rights.
The WTO has a new “dispute settlement” procedure which is designed to reach judgments in a much shorter time.

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International Negotiations �and Trade Policy

Benefits and Costs

The economic impact of the Uruguay Round is difficult to estimate.

However, estimates of the GATT and of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development suggest a gain to the world economy as a whole of more than $200 billion annually once the agreement is fully in force.

Most economists believe that these estimates are too low.

The costs of the Uruguay Round will be felt by well-organized groups, while much of the benefit will accrue to diffuse populations.

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International Negotiations �and Trade Policy

Preferential Trading Agreements

Nations establish preferential trading agreements under which they lower tariffs with respect to each other but not the rest of the world.
The GATT-WTO, through the principle of non-discrimination called the “most favored nation” (MFN) principle, prohibits such agreements.

The formation of preferential trading agreements is allowed if they lead to free trade between the agreeing countries.

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International Negotiations �and Trade Policy

Free trade can be established among several WTO members as follows:

A free trade area allows free-trade among members, but each member can have its own trade policy towards non-member countries.

Example: The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) creates a free trade area.

A customs union allows free trade among members and requires a common external trade policy towards non-member countries.

Example: The European Union (EU) is a full customs union.

A common market is a customs union with free factor movements (especially labor) among members.

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International Negotiations �and Trade Policy

Are preferential trading agreements good?

It depends on whether it leads to trade creation or trade diversion.

Trade creation

Occurs when the formation of a preferential trading agreement leads to replacement of high-cost domestic production by low-cost imports from other members.

Trade diversion

Occurs when the formation of a preferential trading agreement leads to the replacement of low-cost imports from non members with higher-cost imports from member nations.

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Summary

There are three arguments in favor of free trade:

The efficiency gains from free trade
The additional gains from economies of scale
The political argument

There are two arguments for deviating from free trade:

The terms of trade argument for a tariff
The domestic market failures

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Summary

In practice, trade policy is dominated by considerations of income distribution.

Political parties adopt policies that serve the interests of the median voter.
Groups that are well organized (or small groups) are often able to get policies that serve their interests at the expense of the majority.

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Summary

International negotiation helps reduce tariffs in industrial countries and avoid trade wars.
The GATT is the central institution of the international trading system.

The most recent worldwide GATT agreement also sets up a new organization, the WTO.

Three kinds of preferential trading agreements are allowed under the WTO: free trade areas, customs unions, and common markets.
Preferential trading agreements can be good or bad depending on the magnitude of trade creation and trade diversion effects.

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Home import demand

Foreign export supply

P_F

Price, P

Quantity, Q

P_W

Appendix: Proving that the Optimum Tariff is Positive

Figure 9A-1: Effects of a Tariff on Prices

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P_F

P_W

Price, P

Quantity, Q

Gain

Loss

Q¹

D¹

Q²

D²

Figure 9A-2: Welfare Effects of a Tariff

Appendix: Proving that the Optimum Tariff is Positive