International Trade in Natural Resources: Practice and Policy

37 Pages Posted: 4 Apr 2012

See all articles by Michele Ruta

Michele Ruta

Economic Research Division, WTO; Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Economics; International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Anthony J. Venables

University of Oxford; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Multiple version iconThere are 4 versions of this paper

Date Written: March 2012

Abstract

Natural resources account for 20% of world trade, and dominate the exports of many countries. Policy is used to manipulate both international and domestic prices of resources, yet this policy is largely outside the disciplines of the WTO. The instruments used include export taxes, price controls, production quotas, and domestic producer and consumer taxes (equivalent to trade taxes if no domestic production is possible). We review the literature, and argue that the policy equilibrium is inefficient. This inefficiency is exacerbated by market failure in long run contracts for exploration and development of natural resources. Properly coordinated policy reforms offer an avenue to resource exporting and importing countries to overcome these inefficiencies and obtain mutual gains.

Keywords: export tax, natural resources, OPEC, tariff escalation, terms of trade, trade, WTO

JEL Classification: F1, F13, Q3

Suggested Citation

Ruta, Michele and Venables, Anthony J., International Trade in Natural Resources: Practice and Policy (March 2012). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP8903, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2034121

Michele Ruta (Contact Author)

Economic Research Division, WTO ( email )

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Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Economics ( email )

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International Monetary Fund (IMF) ( email )

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Anthony J. Venables

University of Oxford ( email )

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Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 4AU
United Kingdom

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

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