Policy Responses to Trade Preference Erosion
Options for Developing Countries

It was hoped that trade preferences, offered to exports from developing countries by industrialised countries, would give greater economic benefits than has been the case. Now continuing multilateral tariff liberalisation threatens to further erode even those benefits that remain.
This study looks at how best developing countries should respond to this erosion of trade preferences, either through restructuring individual preference arrangements or by acting to offset the adverse effects of preference erosion.
Contents
Foreword
Abbreviations
Summary
1. Introduction
1.1 Context and issues
1.2 Aims of the study
1.3 Outline of the report
2. Review of Trade Preference Schemes
2.1 Nature and evolution of preferential schemes
2.2 Extent and trade coverage of preferential schemes
2.3 Preference margins: extent and evolution
2.4 Summary conclusions
3. Preferences and Developing Country Experience
3.1 Benefits of preferential trade agreements
3.2 Benefits of targeted trade preferences
3.3 Costs of preference erosion
3.4 Implications of the evidence on costs and benefits
3.5 Summary conclusions
4. Future Prospects and Policy Options
4.1 Implications of current trade negotiations for preference erosion
4.2 Characteristics of countries exposed to preference erosion
4.3 Improving preference schemes
4.4 Policy responses in preference-receiving countries
4.5 Summary and implications
5. Strategies for Addressing Preference Erosion
5.1 Trade policy negotiating strategies
5.2 Trade facilitation and investment strategies
5.3 Aid for trade and export development
5.4 Conclusions: some questions answered
Appendix to Chapter 2 (A2)
Appendix to Chapter 3 (A3)
Annex Tables
Bibliography
Index
Reviews
'This is an excellent volume for readers looking for a short but comprehensive and objective synthesis of the state of present knowledge on the use and value of trade preferences and the options that have been proposed to address erosion costs and make existing preference programs for poor countries more effective. The annexes are particularly valuable in providing more detailed, yet quite concise, quantitative information on aspects of the preference erosion question.'
Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, Volume 25, Issue 1, 175–176, May 2011
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