Abstract
China and the WTO: Tariff Offers, Exemptions, and Welfare Implications. — Trade reforms have opened the Chinese economy and the reforms offered for WTO accession involve further liberalization. To assess the implications of these offers, the authors take into account the tariff exemptions that are especially important in China’s trade regime, and the reductions in the variability of tariffs at the tariff line level required by the WTO offers. The offers will result in real income gains of over $ 50 billion, benefitting China and its major trading partners. Omitting the tariff exemptions is shown to result in over-estimation of the benefits from liberalization, while focusing on average tariff reductions leads to under-estimation.
Zusammenfassung
China und die WHO: Zollsenkungsangebote, Ausnahmen und Implikationen für die Wohlfahrt. — Handelsreformen haben die chinesische Volkswirtschaft geöffnet, und die mit dem Beitritt zur WHO angebotenen Reformen sind mit einer weiteren Liberalisierung verbunden. Um die Implikationen dieser Angebote abzuschÄtzen, berücksichtigen die Autoren die Ausnahmen vom Zolltarif, die für Chinas Handelspolitik besonders wichtig sind, und die Verminderung in der VariabilitÄt von Tarifen innerhalb von Gütergruppen, die durch die Angebote an die WHO erforderlich wird. Die Angebote werden Realeinkommensgewinne von über 50 Mrd. Dollar mit sich bringen, die China und seinen Haupthandelspartnern zugute kommen. Es zeigt sich, da\ die Liberalisierungsgewinne überschÄtzt werden, wenn die Ausnahmen übersehen werden, wÄhrend es zu einer UnterschÄtzung führt, wenn man sich nur auf die Reduktion des durchschnittlichen Zolltarifs konzentriert.
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