Rules of origin form part of the traditional trade policy landscape. They are necessary for any government that seeks to distinguish between different foreign sources of supply of a product. This paper provides a basic introduction to the conceptual issues that arise in this area. It discusses...

This Paper discusses the challenges confronting developing countries seeking to overcome discrimination in world trade rules and policies. The major sources of discrimination in both developed and developing countries in the areas of market access opportunities and WTO disciplines are briefly...

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has a role to play in strengthening the global trading system for development, primarily by lowering barriers to trade in goods and services and ensuring that trade rules are useful to developing countries. But greater international cooperation must complement...

Average most-favored-nation tariffs in the Quad (Canada, the European Union, Japan, and the United States) have fallen to about 5 percent. But tariffs more than three times the average most-favored-nation duty are not uncommon in the Quad and have a disproportionate effect on exports of least...

Hoekman and Javorcik focus on policies facilitating firm adjustment to globalization. They briefly review the effects of trade and investment liberalization on firms, focusing on within-industry effects. They postulate that governments' role in supporting the process is to (1) ensure that firms...

Hoekman, Maskus, and Saggi analyze national and international policy options to encourage the international transfer of technology, distinguishing between four major channels of such transfer: trade in products, trade in knowledge, foreign direct investment, and intra-national and international...

In the past, international economists have ignored trade in services, but technological progress and international trade negotiations are likely to keep liberalization of trade in services a high-profile policy issue.Until recently, trade in services was mostly ignored by international...

This article assesses the impact of the world price-depressing effect of agricultural subsidies and border protection in OECD countries on developing economies' exports, imports, and welfare. Developing economy exporters are likely to benefit from reductions in such subsidies and trade barriers,...

Although average OECD tariffs on imports from the least developed countries are very low; tariffs above 15 percent (peaks) have a disproportional effect on their exports. Products subject to tariff peaks tend to be heavily concentrated in agriculture and food products and labor-intensive...