Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Trade restrictions on minerals and metals

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Mineral Economics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Import tariffs and export taxes that are imposed on products far upstream in global supply chains increase trade costs strongly since they are applied on products that will most likely be traded many times before they are sold for final consumption. This paper examines the export and import restrictions in place on minerals and metals. This paper provides a backdrop to the recent trade restrictions on minerals and metals. This issue has had much resonance lately since the United States imposed import tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminium from some major producing countries. The use of export restrictions by producers of minerals and metals is increasing. Moreover, once export restricting measures are in place, they are rarely lifted. Export taxes on minerals and metals can be high, and some are prohibitively high. High export taxes negatively affect exports by countries that impose them. Import policies are very different to those that apply to exports: in major markets for minerals and metals, import tariffs have been substantially lower on average compared with the export taxes imputed by producing countries. Eight successive rounds of multi-lateral trade negotiations have taken place since 1947, resulting in fairly low import tariffs with many countries having bound their tariffs, i.e. pledged not to raise them above an agreed maximum, at successively lower levels. Export taxes are not subjected to multi-lateral oversight. Trade restrictions are used particularly frequently on metallic waste and scrap, which is generated either as a by-product of the mining and refining process or from recycled goods. Since recovered materials can re-enter the production cycle as inputs, trade restrictions pose a particular challenge to the aim of decoupling industrial production from resource use, which is deemed necessary to achieve compliance with the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. International Trade and Market Access Data, https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/statis_bis_e.htm?solution=WTO&path=/Dashboards/MAPS&file=Tariff.wcdf&bookmarkState={%22impl%22:%22client%22,%22params%22:{%22langParam%22:%22en%22}}

  2. Available at: http://qdd.oecd.org/subject.aspx?Subject=ExportRestrictions_IndustrialRawMaterials

  3. AMIS Policy Database, http://statistics.amis-outlook.org/policy/policiesAtaGlance.html?p=view_sidemenu_4_event&s=bd2_submenu1-title

  4. This rationale was explained by some users of export restrictions on panels at: OECD conference on Trade in Raw Materials, Paris, November 2014; UNCTAD 2015 Global Commodities Forum, Geneva; EU Raw Materials Supply Group, Brussels, June 2016; Investing in African Mining Indaba, South Africa, February 2017.

  5. Coverage is outlined in the methodological note of the Inventory of export restrictions on industrial raw materials, http://www.oecd.org/tad/benefitlib/inventory-export-restrictions-ind.pdf. The product coverage extends to 57 minerals and metals, six wood products and metallic waste and scrap. The analysis undertaken here extends only to minerals, metals and metallic waste and scrap.

  6. Domestic processing drive—the impact of Indonesia’s ore export ban, 12 March 2014, http://www.tfreview.com/feature/commodities/domestic-processing-drive-impact-indonesia%E2%80%99s-ore-export-ban

  7. This is the average of all non-zero export taxes placed on 65 minerals and metals by all major global producers. Data in this section comes from the OECD Inventory of export restrictions on industrial raw materials. See the methodological note to the inventory of export restrictions on industrial raw materials, http://www.oecd.org/tad/benefitlib/inventory-export-restrictions-ind.pdf, for coverage.

  8. See, for example, the findings of the International Resource Panel and UNEP High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July 2016, http://www.cepal.org/en/pressreleases/eclac-new-governance-natural-resources-needed-compliance-2030-agenda.

  9. Bureau of International Recycling, http://www.bir.org/industry/non-ferrous-metals/?locale=en_US.

  10. OECD represents a simple average of applied tariffs for all Member countries including the United States and countries of the European Union.

  11. Import tariffs refer to simple averages. Trade-weighted averages were very similar.

  12. Nuisance tariffs are defined as tariffs that are so low that they cost more to implement than the revenue they generate. There is no agreed level below which tariff levels are considered nuisance tariffs but during Doha Round negotiations some proposals suggested that a level of 3% was appropriate. In a submission to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum, Hong Kong suggested that nuisance tariffs were those of about 2–3% (http://www.scmp.com/article/179084/abolish-nuisance-tariffs-hk-urges). In Australia’s Customs Tariff Amendment Bill no. 3 of 2000, nuisance tariffs are defined as those 5% and lower (http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/bill_em/ctab32000295/memo1.html).

References

  • Anderson K (2012) Government trade restrictions and international price volatility. Glob Food Sec 1:157–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson K, Ivanic M, Martin W (2013) Food price spikes, price insulation, and poverty. In: Policy research working paper. The World Bank, Development Research Group, Agriculture and Rural Development Group, July

    Google Scholar 

  • Bouët A, Debucquet DL (2010) Economics of export taxation in a context of food crisis. A theoretical and CGE approach contribution. In: IFPRI discussion paper 00994, June

    Google Scholar 

  • Deuss A (2017) Impact of agricultural export restrictions on prices in importing countries. In: OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers, No. 105. OECD Publishing, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/1eeeb292-en

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO 2018, World Food Situation http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/foodpricesindex/en/

  • Fliess B, Arriola C, Liapis P (2014) Recent developments in the use of export restrictions in raw materials trade. In: OECD, export restrictions in raw materials trade: facts, fallacies and better practices, Paris

  • Fung KC, Korinek J (2014) Economics of export restrictions as applied to industrial raw materials. In: Export restrictions in raw materials trade: facts, fallacies and better practices. OECD

  • Headey D (2011) Rethinking the global food crisis: the role of trade shocks. Food Policy 36:136–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofmann C, Osnago A, Ruta M (2017) Horizontal depth: a new database on the content of preferential trade agreements. In: Policy research working paper 7981, World Bank, February

    Google Scholar 

  • Korinek J, Bartos J (2012) Multilateralising regionalism: disciplines on export restrictions in regional trade agreements. In: OECD trade policy papers, no. 139. OECD Publishing, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/5k962hf7hfnr-en

    Google Scholar 

  • Laborde D, David CE, Bouët A (2013) A global assessment of the economic effects of export taxes. World Econ 36(10):1333–1354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin W, Anderson K (2012) Export restrictions and price insulation during commodity price booms. Am J Agric Econ 94(2):422–427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD (forthcoming) Review of agricultural policies in Argentina

  • Piermartini R (2004) The role of export taxes in the field of primary commodities. World Trade Organization (WTO), Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutten M, Chant L, Meijerink G (2013) Sit down at the ball game: how trade barriers make the world less food secure. Food Policy 38:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanaka T, Hosoe N (2011) Does agricultural trade liberalization increase risks of supply-side uncertainty? effects of productivity shocks and export restrictions on welfare and food supply in Japan. Food Policy 36:368–377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson W, Tallard G (2010) Potential market effects of selected policy options in emerging economies to address future commodity price surges. In: OECD food, agriculture and fisheries papers. No 35. https://doi.org/10.1787/5km658j3r85b-en

    Google Scholar 

  • USAID (2013) Economic effects of Indonesia’s mineral processing requirements for export, April. https://www.nathaninc.com/sites/default/files/Pub%20PDFs/Impact%20of%20Indonesia%27s%20Restrictions%20on%20Mineral%20Exports.pdf

  • World Trade Organisation (WTO) (2010) World trade report 2010. Trade in Natural Resources, Geneva

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Paris, France

    Jane Korinek

Authors
  1. Jane Korinek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jane Korinek.

Additional information

The author is an Economist and Trade Policy Analyst in the Trade and Agriculture Directorate of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OECD or its Members. The author is grateful for research assistance provided by Roberto Maeso Benito and Martin Michelini

Annex

Annex

Table 1 Export taxes above 20% by product and country
Full size table
Table 2 Import tariffs above 20% by product and country
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Korinek, J. Trade restrictions on minerals and metals. Miner Econ 32, 171–185 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13563-018-0161-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13563-018-0161-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation