38
T H E T R A D E A N D C L I MATE CH AN G E N EX US
TABLE 3.4 Average Most-Favored-Nation Unweighted Tariffs on Agricultural Products in Selected Countries and Regions, 2019
Country or region
Meat and offal
Dairy, eggs, and natural honey
Edible vegetables, roots, and tubers
Edible fruits and nuts
Cereals
WTO agricultural
10.54
5.06
10.09
Brazil
9.94
14.92
8.87
China
18.24
13.54
10.97
18
11.69
12.97
India
32.12
33.85
31.59
35.76
32.31
36.24
United States
4.22
12.66
8.59
3.43
1.53
7.03
EU27
5.18
5.34
8.67
6.88
1.44
6.09
East Asia and Pacific
7.01
6.85
6.36
7.02
2.9
6.23
Latin America and Caribbean
16.44
15.80
13.83
18.32
7.05
13.06
Middle East and North Africa
22.34
14.95
14.85
16.87
4.31
18.07
South Asia
21.52
24.04
20.74
24.22
17.89
22.39
Sub-Saharan Africa
21.84
18.89
17.22
17.15
8.42
14.49
Source: World Integrated Trade Solution. Note: WTO = World Trade Organization. EU27 = 27 European Union member countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.
for both imports and exports; arbitrary sanitary and phytosanitary standards not based on scientific evidence; and customs and other import procedures that are slow, costly, and excessive—are major challenges for agricultural exporters in many regions. These barriers raise food prices, undermine food quality, affect food availability, and impose extra burdens on small businesses. One of the biggest risks for food security in food-importing countries during times of crisis is the imposition of export restrictions by exporting countries. In previous global crises such as the financial crisis of 2008/09, producing nations resorted to limits on food exports that hurt consumers around the world. Without some form of international agreement, this issue will occur again in future crises and will likely become more critical, given the way in which climate change affects patterns of production and trade. Limits on export quantities are set despite the clear consensus among economists that export restrictions and precautionary purchases of food by a small number of key countries can lead to a rapid rise in global prices and severe shortages in other countries. Hence, some form of coordination and discipline is needed when such policies are adopted. Economic theory and substantial empirical analysis over a long period of experience with export restraints show that export restrictions by large producers increase the volatility of supply and prices. Export restraints by large agricultural producers limit overall supply in the global economy, which reduces the availability of products in countries that need them the most: low-income countries with substantial levels of poverty and limited or no capacity to increase their own production.5 While, in the short run, limits on exports may result in lower domestic
