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The Role of Specific Trade Concerns Raised on TBTs in the Import of Products to the EU, USA and China

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  • Mahdi Ghodsi

    (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw)

Abstract

The Specific Trade Concerns (STC) data on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) notifications of WTO members report 317 TBT notifications between 1995 and 2011. This contribution provides evidence concerning the impact of TBT STCs on the imports of products at 4-digit level of the Harmonised System to three major economies – the EU, the United States and China – over the period 1995-2011 using an augmented gravity model controlling for the endogenous characteristics of TBTs and tariffs. Robustness checks are provided using Fixed Effect (FE) Estimation, and Poisson FE. Further, since TBTs are generally imposed on non-food products, food and non-food products are analysed in separate specifications. Bootstrapped robust results suggest that these policy measures have negatively influenced trade flows to the EU and China, while they have enhanced the imports of products to the United States. The quality impact of these measures is assessed using unit values of imports. The results suggest that US notifications improve the quality and values of imports, while in the case of the EU notifications this effect is observed only for the high-income trade partners. Lower imports to China due to quality improvement of products, on the other hand, may refer to low preference of Chinese consumers for higher quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Mahdi Ghodsi, 2015. "The Role of Specific Trade Concerns Raised on TBTs in the Import of Products to the EU, USA and China," wiiw Working Papers 116, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    • Handle: RePEc:wii:wpaper:116
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    Cited by:

    1. Payam Elhami & Mahdi Ghodsi & Robert Stehrer, 2021. "Quality of Goods Imports: Which Role for Non-tariff Measures?," wiiw Policy Notes 46, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    2. Mahdi Ghodsi & Julia Grübler & Oliver Reiter & Robert Stehrer, 2017. "The Evolution of Non-Tariff Measures and their Diverse Effects on Trade," wiiw Research Reports 419, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    3. Mahdi Ghodsi, 2015. "Distinguishing Between Genuine and Non-Genuine Reasons for Imposing Technical Barriers to Trade: A Proposal Based on Cost-Benefit Analysis," wiiw Working Papers 117, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    4. Mahdi Ghodsi & Julia Grübler & Leon Podkaminer & Oliver Reiter, 2016. "Monthly Report No. 6/2016," wiiw Monthly Reports 2016-06, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    trade policy; technical barriers to trade; specific trade concerns;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade

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