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The paper contributes to the discussion about the revenue implications of trade reform by assessing the approximate fiscal revenue impact of different liberalization formulae under consideration in multilateral trade negotiations for a group of low- and middle-income countries. The study applies a linear optimization framework to data for bound tariffs, applied tariffs, and imports at the HS-6 digit level for 58 developing countries, and simulates results for different sets of import demand elasticities and developing country \"flexibilities.\" While only a small number of countries face a significant impact, results point toward the need for complementary fiscal measures in the countries most affected by revenue loss.

The World Bank's 'World Trade Indicators' (WTI) database on the CD-ROM in this volume provides more than 300 performance indicators measuring at-the-border and behind-the-border country trade policy, institutions, and outcomes from 1995 to 2007. The database allows each country to be ranked by any policy or performance dimension relative to others. Trade-at-a-Glance tables for the 210 countries in the database facilitate comparisons among countries in key areas. Complementing the rich database are Trade Briefs for 142 developing countries summarizing insights from the data and the main findings of analytical work conducted by the Word Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization for individual countries.The companion volume to the 'World Trade Indicators 2008' highlights the main patterns in policy and performance revealed by the database grouping countries by region or income. The 20 best and 20 worst country rankings for a number of indicators are shown. For country policy makers, trade negotiators, and advisors, this volume provides the rich context within which to interpret a single country's standing on various dimensions. Business people will gain new insights about the countries in which they and their competitors operate. Trade researchers will find tantalizing country stories on trade policy and institutional dimensions and trade outcomes.Country performance is benchmarked in five key areas: ? Border protection, such as tariffs and nontariff barriers on imports of goods and services ? Market access barriers in the rest of the world to exports of goods ? Overall business and institutional environment ? Trade facilitation ? Trade outcomes, such as trade growth, integration, and diversification.

This paper studies tariff-tax reforms in a calibrated two-region global New Keynesian model composed of a developing and an advanced region. In our baseline calibration, a revenue-neutral reform that lowers tariffs in developing countries can reduce domestic welfare. The reason is that the increase in developing countries welfare due to higher output is dominated by the welfare losses stemming from the deterioration of the terms of trade. On the other hand, the reform increases output and welfare in the advanced countries and in the world as a whole. The effects that we highlight have not been studied in previous contributions to the literature, which typically looks at tariff-tax reforms using a small open economy framework. Nominal rigidities have important implications for adjustment dynamics in our model. In the case of a \"point-for-point\" reform, for example, price stickiness implies that the international dynamics of output is reversed compared to a revenue neutral reform.

Countries of the Southeast Europe (SEE) region have witnessed significant economic improvement since the beginning of their transition to market economies in the early 1990s. Growth has been particularly strong in the past six years, but still lower than in other fast growing countries in the East Asia and Baltic regions, or some of the other new member states of the European Union (EU). The purpose of this study is twofold: (i) to present recent trends in intra regional trade in SEE, in particular following the implementation of Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA); and (ii) to bring the attention of policy makers to some of the remaining impediments to enhanced intra regional trade. The rest of the study is organized as follows. Chapter two describes intraregional trade patterns, both prior and after the entry of CEFTA into force, including more detailed analysis of trade structure. Chapter three emphasizes the role of nontariff barriers (NTBs), such as technical regulations and standards, and their potential impact on trade enhancement, as well as the importance of the trade related environment drawing on global surveys and reports (doing business, Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS), logistics performance indicator, and the enabling trade index). It also looks at rules of origin and their role in trade creation. Chapter four aims to present the view of the private sector on CEFTA and on trade related reforms in general through two case studies of regional firms. Finally, chapter five concludes by summarizing the key recommendations of the study.

Until the 1990s, the main users of safeguards and antidumping laws were Australia, Canada, the European Union, and the United States. Since then, many countries have implemented such laws, leading to a proliferation in antidumping and safeguard activity across the world. This timely book documents the political economy surrounding the implementation of these laws in seven Latin American countries and provides details on the institutions created, implementation of the laws, and subsequent activity. It finds that, in the larger political context, antidumping and safeguards are a necessary quid pro quo to certain important sectors to obtain much more liberalized trade policies for the general economy.

South Asia is home to approximately 1.3 billion people, of whom 70 percent live in rural areas. Therefore, agriculture plays a crucial role in the region’s economy, accounting for close to 28 percent of GDP. But poverty is one of the major issues in South Asia, with 40 percent of the world’s poor (defined as those living on less than $1 a day). The further opening of international markets to agricultural exports from South Asia promises to raise the standard of living in this region. The inclusion of agriculture under the rules of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/World Trade Organization (WTO) is considered one of the main achievements of the Uruguay Round, which in 1986 established the WTO, the successor to the GATT. The Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) established a rules-based system of agricultural trade and set guidelines to reduce protection and distortional policies in agricultural trade. However, developing countries did not gain as much as expected under the AoA, so it is imperative that they seize the opportunity to actively and effectively participate in future trade negotiations. Agriculture, Trade, and the WTO in South Asia is a compilation of studies presented at a World Bank-sponsored regional conference in New Delhi, India, in 1999. The studies have been revised and updated, and provide valuable insights into various issues, perspectives, and interests of South Asia in future WTO trade rounds. The book is intended for policymakers, analysts, and other stakeholders from industrialized and developing countries.

Trade Performance and Regional Integration of the CIS Countries is part of the World Bank Working Paper series. These papers are published to communicate the results of the Bank’s ongoing research and to stimulate public discussion. This paper provides a detailed quantitative analysis, based on standard econometric models, of the trends and the configurations of trade of the CIS countries, with an emphasis on its low-income members. It also contains an analysis of the CIS countries’ trade potential and its realization in a comparative perspective, as well as examination of the nature of the existing CIS intra-bloc trade. The study reveals no evidence that the CIS countries as a group under-perform significantly in terms of either trade openness or export levels when compared to the countries of similar per capita GDP and population size. However, the low-income economies in the CIS (CIS-7) have been performing on average just marginally better than other low-income countries and, overall, they have been falling behind the countries that benefit most from globalization. Overall, progress in the trade area was slower in the CIS-7 countries than in the higher income CIS members. This is reflected in: (i) lower overall export level and slower export growth; (ii) higher trade deficit; (iii) lower share of manufacturing exports; (iv) incomplete reorientation of trade flows; and (v) lower incidence of intra-industry trade. This report found that the CIS free trade area is, on balance, a beneficial, trade-facilitating bloc. There is no evidence so far that the CIS integration is of the “South-South” type (harmful for some of its members). However, the potential benefits of CIS trade integration remain badly underutilized. The paper suggests several directions for strengthening the legal and administrative framework for intra-CIS trade arrangements.

The clothing sector has traditionally been a gateway to export diversification and industrial development for low-income countries (LICs) but recent developments may condition this role. In most developed and middle-income countries, the clothing sector was central in the industrialization process. Recently, however, the environment for global clothing trade has changed significantly, driven by the rise of organizational buyers and their global sourcing strategies, the phase-out of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) at the end of 2004, and the global economic crisis in 2008-09. Changes in global supply and demand structures have increased competition between LIC exporters but also offer new opportunities in fast-growing emerging markets. The second half of the twentieth century was characterized by a rising demand for clothing and the replacement of developed countries' domestic production by imports from developing countries. Today, however, demand has stagnated and import penetration levels are close to 100 percent in most developed countries. Thus, the growth of clothing exports from a few developing countries largely comes at the expense of clothing producers in other developing countries. The heightened competition between developing countries has been reinforced by overcapacity in the global clothing industry since the MFA phase-out and has been accelerated by the global economic crisis. However, changes in demand structures post-crisis may lead to new opportunities. While import demand for clothing in the Unites States, the European Union (EU), and Japan might stagnate, demand will increase in fast-growing emerging markets.