Since production and trade are increasingly organized within global value chains (GVCs), assessing who effectively pays the cost of protection is not straightforward and since productive processes are internationally fragmented, quantifying the effects of trade policy requires an enhanced analytical framework that takes international input–output linkages into account to assess the implications trade costs have on competitiveness at national and sector levels. This paper defines a new synthetic measure of trade protection based on the value added in trade, capturing the effects that the tariff structure has on exporting firms that rely on imported intermediate inputs. The index, defined in a general equilibrium framework, provides a theoretically sound protection measurement in the context of GVCs. We assess trade protection by computing protection indexes at the bilateral level on both gross imports and imports to exports using the Global Trade Analysis Project computable general equilibrium model. These indexes are used to investigate the relationship between the European Union tariffs and integration of the Italian GVCs. In the case of Italy, imports to exports are overall less protected than gross imports with significant differences at the sector level. Despite the low levels of nominal protection, industrial sectors play a central role in explaining our results. EU tariffs mostly affect Italian exporting firms in the case of chemical products, wearing apparel and leather products.

Fusacchia, I., Antimiani, A., Salvatici, L. (2021). An assessment of import tariff costs for Italian exporting firms. ECONOMIA POLITICA, 38, 31-56 [10.1007/s40888-020-00202-8].

An assessment of import tariff costs for Italian exporting firms

Fusacchia I.;Antimiani A.;Salvatici L.
2021-01-01

Abstract

Since production and trade are increasingly organized within global value chains (GVCs), assessing who effectively pays the cost of protection is not straightforward and since productive processes are internationally fragmented, quantifying the effects of trade policy requires an enhanced analytical framework that takes international input–output linkages into account to assess the implications trade costs have on competitiveness at national and sector levels. This paper defines a new synthetic measure of trade protection based on the value added in trade, capturing the effects that the tariff structure has on exporting firms that rely on imported intermediate inputs. The index, defined in a general equilibrium framework, provides a theoretically sound protection measurement in the context of GVCs. We assess trade protection by computing protection indexes at the bilateral level on both gross imports and imports to exports using the Global Trade Analysis Project computable general equilibrium model. These indexes are used to investigate the relationship between the European Union tariffs and integration of the Italian GVCs. In the case of Italy, imports to exports are overall less protected than gross imports with significant differences at the sector level. Despite the low levels of nominal protection, industrial sectors play a central role in explaining our results. EU tariffs mostly affect Italian exporting firms in the case of chemical products, wearing apparel and leather products.
2021
Fusacchia, I., Antimiani, A., Salvatici, L. (2021). An assessment of import tariff costs for Italian exporting firms. ECONOMIA POLITICA, 38, 31-56 [10.1007/s40888-020-00202-8].
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Fusacchia2021_Article_AnAssessmentOfImportTariffCost.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia: Versione Editoriale (PDF)
Licenza: DRM non definito
Dimensione 1.1 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
1.1 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11590/375986
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 3
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 3
social impact