No abstract

The US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) provides duty‐free market access to developing countries. Yet despite these preferences, about 40% of imports qualifying for GSP enter the US without claiming the benefits. This paper documents variations in GSP utilization rates and explains their determinants with a special emphasis on the production structure of beneficiary countries as captured by local content. The findings suggest that higher local content shares in output lead to higher utilization rates. In addition, the utilization rate rises with the preference margin, size of exports and regional cumulation, in general, and declines with degree ofprocessing.

This paper investigates whether the 2011 expiration of the most comprehensive trade preference program (Generalized System of Preferences or GSP) offered by the US had a detrimental impact on the exports from developing countries. The effect of GSP expiration is examined with a triple difference‐in‐differences estimation that controls for both country‐ and product‐level export changes. Even though the duties collected during the period of expiration are ultimately refunded after GSP is reauthorized, the findings of this paper suggest that the expiration of GSP had a considerable impact on the level of exports to the US. On average exports dropped by 3% in 2011, with exports of agricultural products and textiles and clothing declining as much as 5% and 9%, respectively. The decline is increasing in the tariff rates and rates of utilization. The effect appears to be persistent over time as exports do not fully recover by 2012. The 2011 expiration is also found to be similar in magnitude to the 1995–1996 and 2013–2015 expirations, the longest episodes of expiration in the history of the GSP. Résumé. Suspension du SGP et baisse des exportations en provenance des pays en voie de développement. Cet article cherche à déterminer si la suspension en 2011 du Système Généralisé de Préférences (SGP) proposé par les États‐Unis eut des conséquences négatives sur les exportations en provenance des pays en voie de développement. Nous étudions l’effet de la suspension du SGP grâce à une estimation basée sur la méthode des triples différences tenant compte des changements en matière d’exportation, à la fois au niveau des produits mais aussi des pays. Même si les droits perçus au cours de la période d’interruption du SGP furent finalement restitués au moment de sa réintroduction, les conclusions de cet article suggèrent que la suspension du SGP engendra des répercussions considérables quant au niveau des exportations vers les États‐Unis. En moyenne, les exportations chutèrent de 3% en 2011; les exportations de produits agricoles et les exportations de textiles et de vêtements chutèrent quant à elles de 5% et 9% respectivement. Cette baisse entraîna une hausse des droits de douane et des taux d’utilisation. Ces effets semblent persister dans le temps puisque les exportations en 2012 ne retrouvèrent pas totalement les niveaux antérieurs. Il apparaît que la suspension du SGP en 2011 fut de même ampleur que les interruptions de 1995–1996 et de 2013–2015, les plus longues de l’histoire du SGP.

Using US Census data for 1990-2000, we estimate effects of NAFTA on US wages. We look for effects of the agreement by industry and by geography, measuring each industry's vulnerability to Mexican imports, and each locality's dependance on vulnerable industries. We find evidence of both effects, dramatically lowering wage growth for blue-collar workers in the most affected industries and localities (even for service-sector workers in affected localities). These distributional effects are much larger than aggregate welfare effects estimated by other authors. In addition, we find strong evidence of anticipatory adjustment in places whose protection was expected to fall but had not yet fallen; this adjustment appears to have conferred an anticipatory rent to workers in those locations.

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may AbstractThis paper examines the impact of the revocation of tariff exemptions on exports of developing countries using data from cases of the Competitive Needs Limits (CNL), a feature of the US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). CNLs are arguably imposed on super competitive GSP beneficiaries and aim to reserve the GSP benefits for other "less competitive" GSP eligible countries. I find that being excluded from the GSP as a result of a CNL induces a large and significant drop in imports from affected countries, both in value and in their share in total US imports. Contrary to the policy objectives of CNLs, the excluded countries do not appear to be "super competitive."In addition, the findings suggest that much of the benefits of CNLs accrue to non-GSP countries, rather than other GSP beneficiaries.JEL Classifications: F13, F14, O12, O19