Assessing Non-tariff Barriers in Syria

International trade in Syria is highly regulated through a combination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers. At 8% of the value of imports on average, effective tariffs are relatively low. However, non-tariff barriers to trade actually make Syria's trade restrictiveness very high. Comparing world...

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Main Authors: Chemingui, Mohamed Abdelbasset, Dessus, Sebastien
Format: Journal Article
Language:EN
Published: 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5512
id okr-10986-5512
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-55122021-04-23T14:02:22Z Assessing Non-tariff Barriers in Syria Chemingui, Mohamed Abdelbasset Dessus, Sebastien Trade Policy International Trade Organizations F130 International Linkages to Development Role of International Organizations O190 Development Planning and Policy: Trade Policy Factor Movement Foreign Exchange Policy O240 International trade in Syria is highly regulated through a combination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers. At 8% of the value of imports on average, effective tariffs are relatively low. However, non-tariff barriers to trade actually make Syria's trade restrictiveness very high. Comparing world and domestic prices of imports indeed suggests that non-tariff barriers increase the domestic price of imported goods by 17% on average, notably the result of significant quantitative restrictions. Using a computable general equilibrium model, the costs of NTBs on the Syrian economy are assessed. Simulations suggest that reallocation gains resulting from a complete removal of NTBs could be substantial. Accordingly, the key message from the analysis is that trade reform if it focuses only on tariff reduction will have limited growth benefits. On the contrary, if the Government abolishes the widespread non-tariff barriers to trade, including the elimination of quantitative trade restrictions, trade policy can become the central instrument to redress Syria's growth prospects. 2012-03-30T07:33:11Z 2012-03-30T07:33:11Z 2008 Journal Article Journal of Policy Modeling 01618938 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5512 EN http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Journal Article Syria
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language EN
topic Trade Policy
International Trade Organizations F130
International Linkages to Development
Role of International Organizations O190
Development Planning and Policy: Trade Policy
Factor Movement
Foreign Exchange Policy O240
spellingShingle Trade Policy
International Trade Organizations F130
International Linkages to Development
Role of International Organizations O190
Development Planning and Policy: Trade Policy
Factor Movement
Foreign Exchange Policy O240
Chemingui, Mohamed Abdelbasset
Dessus, Sebastien
Assessing Non-tariff Barriers in Syria
geographic_facet Syria
relation http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
description International trade in Syria is highly regulated through a combination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers. At 8% of the value of imports on average, effective tariffs are relatively low. However, non-tariff barriers to trade actually make Syria's trade restrictiveness very high. Comparing world and domestic prices of imports indeed suggests that non-tariff barriers increase the domestic price of imported goods by 17% on average, notably the result of significant quantitative restrictions. Using a computable general equilibrium model, the costs of NTBs on the Syrian economy are assessed. Simulations suggest that reallocation gains resulting from a complete removal of NTBs could be substantial. Accordingly, the key message from the analysis is that trade reform if it focuses only on tariff reduction will have limited growth benefits. On the contrary, if the Government abolishes the widespread non-tariff barriers to trade, including the elimination of quantitative trade restrictions, trade policy can become the central instrument to redress Syria's growth prospects.
format Journal Article
author Chemingui, Mohamed Abdelbasset
Dessus, Sebastien
author_facet Chemingui, Mohamed Abdelbasset
Dessus, Sebastien
author_sort Chemingui, Mohamed Abdelbasset
title Assessing Non-tariff Barriers in Syria
title_short Assessing Non-tariff Barriers in Syria
title_full Assessing Non-tariff Barriers in Syria
title_fullStr Assessing Non-tariff Barriers in Syria
title_full_unstemmed Assessing Non-tariff Barriers in Syria
title_sort assessing non-tariff barriers in syria
publishDate 2012
url http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5512
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