A specific tariff is levied as a fixed charge for each unit of imported goods
An ad valorem tariff is levied as a fraction of the value of imported goods
A tariff acts like a transportation cost, making sellers unwilling to ship goods unless the
Home price exceeds the Foreign price by the amount of the tariff: PT – t = P*T
A tariff raises the price of a good in the importing country, so it hurts consumers and benefits producers there.
Who loses
Consumers who pay higher prices
The economy which remains
inefficient Employees of protected
industries who don’t develop new
skills
Who Gains
-Government -
Domestic producers -
Employees of
protected industries
keep their jobs
Export Subsidy
An export subsidy can also be specific or ad valorem: A specific subsidy is a payment per unit
exported. An ad valorem subsidy is a payment as a proportion of the value exported.
An export subsidy raises the price in the exporting country, decreasing its consumer surplus
(consumers worse off) and increasing its producer surplus (producers better off).
In contrast to a tariff, an export subsidy worsens the terms of trade by lowering the price of exports
in world markets.
An export subsidy lowers the price paid in importing countries PS* = PS – s.
Import quotas
Restrict the quantity of some good that may be imported into a country
A binding
import quota
will push up
the price of
the import
because the
quantity
demanded
will exceed
the quantity
supplied by
Home
producers
and from
imports.
Tariff rate quotas - a hybrid of a quota and a tariff where a lower tariff is applied to imports within
the quota than to those over the quota
A quota rent - the extra profit that producers make when supply is artificially limited by an import
quota
Voluntary export
restraints
Works like an import quota, except that the quota is imposed by the exporting country rather than
the importing country.
These restraints are usually requested by the importing country
The profits or rents from this policy are earned by foreign governments or foreign
producers. Foreigners sell a restricted quantity at an increased price.
Local content
requirements
A local content requirement is a regulation that requires a specified fraction of a final good to be
produced domestically.
It may be specified in value terms, by requiring that some minimum share of the value of a
good represent home value added, or in physical units.
From the viewpoint of domestic producers of inputs, a local content requirement provides
protection in the same way that an import quota would.
From the viewpoint of firms that must buy home inputs, however, the requirement does not place a
strict limit on imports, but allows firms to import more if they also use more home parts.
Antidumping
policies
Aka countervailing duties designed to punish foreign firms that engage in dumping and protect
domestic producers from “unfair” foreign competition
Dumping - selling goods in a foreign market below their costs of production, or selling goods in a
foreign market below their “fair” market value
May be predatory behavior - producers use profits from their home markets to subsidize prices in a
foreign market to drive competitors out of that market, and later raise prices