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China - Tariff Rate Quotas for Certain Agricultural Products: Against the Grain: Can the WTO Open Chinese Markets?

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Listed:
  • Joseph Glauber
  • Simon Lester

Abstract

The U.S. complaint about Chinese tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) on certain grain products helps illustrate several key issues in U.S. - China trade relations and the effectiveness of WTO disputes. First, do international obligations based on transparency and fairness work in relation to an authoritarian country not known for the rule of law domestically? Second, can there be a disconnect between the legal aspects of a dispute and the underlying economic interests, with a DSB ruling sometimes not leading to improved trade flows? And third, given the bilateral trade war and "phase one" trade deal between the United States and China, has the WTO been superseded in this trade relationship? This paper summarizes the facts and law of the China - TRQs dispute, and examines each of these questions in that context.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph Glauber & Simon Lester, 2020. "China - Tariff Rate Quotas for Certain Agricultural Products: Against the Grain: Can the WTO Open Chinese Markets?," RSCAS Working Papers 2020/91, European University Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:rsc:rsceui:2020/91
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bowen Chen & Nelson B. Villoria & Tian Xia, 2020. "Tariff quota administration in China's grain markets: An empirical assessment," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 51(2), pages 191-206, March.
    2. Wailes, Eric J. & Fang, Cheng & Tuan, Francis C., 1998. "U.S.-China Agricultural Trade: Constraints and Potential," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 30(1), pages 113-126, July.
    3. Wailes, Eric J. & Fang, Cheng & Tuan, Francis C., 1998. "U.S.-China Agricultural Trade: Constraints and Potential," Staff General Research Papers Archive 1214, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    4. Gale, Fred, 2013. "Growth and Evolution in China's Agricultural Support Policies," Economic Research Report 155385, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    5. Wailes, Eric J. & Fang, Cheng & Tuan, Francis C., 1998. "U.S.-China Agricultural Trade: Constraints And Potential," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 30(1), pages 1-14, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    US-China trade relations; agriculture; transparency obligations; WTO dispute settlement; tariff-rate quotas;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F51 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Conflicts; Negotiations; Sanctions
    • Q17 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agriculture in International Trade

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