| Author |
Date and source |
Quotes |
|
|
|
|
Ed Gresser, director of the trade division of the
Progressive Policy Institute |
10 September 2002
Toughest on the Poor: Tariffs, Taxes, and the Single Mom
|
Tariffs biggest U.S. tax on the poor - study
WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Tariffs on imported shoes, clothes and
other goods take a bigger bite out of the income of poor families than
other major federal taxes, according to a new study released on
Tuesday. "Tariffs seem to be the only American taxes that go up the
poorer you get," Ed Gresser, director of the trade division of the
Progressive Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, told Reuters.
"If you stand back and look at the tariff system as a whole, it's
pretty dysfunctional." In his study, Gresser compared the effect of
federal income taxes, payroll taxes, excise taxes and tariffs on poor
families. He found tariffs to be the most regressive, meaning they hit
the poor harder than the wealthy. While overall U.S. tariffs average
about 1.6 percent, tariffs on clothes, shoes, some types of food and
other light consumer goods regularly top 10 percent, he said. And
tariffs on inexpensive shoes and clothes that account for a big share
of purchases made by poor families often rise to 30 percent and higher,
Gresser said. He estimated workers earning $15,000 per year - just
enough to get off the federal welfare rolls -- lose about 1.9 percent
on their income each year to the tariffs, or the equivalent of one
week's salary. A family pulling in about $110,000 annually loses only
about 0.6 percent of its income to tariffs, he said. Although domestic
industries often argue for continued import protection to prevent job
losses, the record suggests tariffs are not very effective at
preserving jobs, he said. For example, the number of workers employed
making women's and girls' shirts and dresses has fallen nearly 80
percent since 1992 despite textile tariffs, Gresser said. The new
study comes as the United States is gearing up for negotiations on its
tariffs and other market barriers as part of a proposed Western
Hemisphere free trade pact and a separate round of world trade talks. |
| Martin
Wolf |
21
November 2001
Financial Times
|
"
The World Bank notes that the average poor person confronts trade
barriers roughly twice as high as those confronting the typical
worker in an advanced country. In general, tariffs in advanced
countries are four times higher than those of imports from other
advanced countries. Exceptional protection is imposed against
imports of many farm products ( particularly in the EU and Japan),
of textiles and clothing (notably in the US and Canada) and on
footwear." |
| Doha
Briefing notes |
October
2001
Background
Doha
Briefing notes
|
"
Hungary, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic provide duty
free and quota free access to all imports from LDCs.
Egypt notified tariff reductions ranging from
10% to 20% of existing applied duties for 77 products of export
interest to LDCs, and provides duty free access for about 50
products. In addition, Egypt bound customs duties, with a 10%
reduction for industrial products imported from LDCs." |
| Doha
Briefing notes |
October
2001
Background
Doha
Briefing notes
|
"
Japan in December 2000, announced its “99%-initiative on
Industrial Tariffs”. Following implementation, in April 2001, the
coverage of duty and quota-free treatment for LDCs industrial
product exports increased from 94 to 99% and includes textile and
clothing exported from LDCs." |
| Doha
Briefing notes |
October
2001
Background
Doha
Briefing notes
|
"
Canada, effective 1 September 2000, added a further 570 tariff lines
to the list of goods from LDCs eligible for duty-free treatment.
About 90% of all LDC imports will now receive duty-free
treatment." |
| The
Evening Standard |
11
October 2001
The Evening Standard
|
""
Which country do you think is the world's biggest exporter of coffee
? " Frederico Cuello, the Dominican Republic's Ambassador to
the WTO, asks rethorically. The answer, he says, is not Brazil
or Colombia, but Germany. The explanation for this is revealing - so
called "tariff escalation". A product exported to, say,
the EU as a commodity such as coffee beans may attract only a low
customs duty or none at all. But once it has been through some
manufacturing process, even just roasting, import duties can soar to
more than 100%. Tariff escalation, he says, is just one example of
the intricate rules governing international trade and which miltate
against economic development in poorer
countries." |
| Professor of Economics, School of International
Studies, JNU, Manoj Pant. |
3 August 2001
The Economic Times
|
"According
to estimates of UNCTAD, in the post-Uruguay round period, US
tariffs on more than half their textile imports still range
from 15 to 40 per cent as compared to the average industrial
tariff of around 3 per cent." |
| UNCTAD |
17 May 2001
UNCTAD Press Release
|
"
The estimated impact on the EU from extending its preference
scheme to cover all products (of LDC's) except arms is
negligible in every respect. The only sector of concern is
sugar, but this impact has been qualified by the extended
transition period. Negligible impacts are also expected for
the rest of the world." |
| British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon
Brown |
27 July 2001
Wall Street Journal
|
"(The
annual income gains of ) a trans-Atlantic market-place
including the elimination of industrial tariffs with all our
trading partners would be nearly $350 billion" |
| Assistant Trade Minister for Liberia, Aaron
Mathies |
24 July 2001
Reuters
|
" We are
poor; we are beggars ; we want greater market access, but we
need help." |
| Stephanie Hoo |
17 July 2001
Dow Jones International
|
"Ahead of
WTO entry, China can still limit agricultural imports with
quotas and prohibitively with high tariffs. The result is
artificial shortages even in good years, which leads to
hoarding that pushes prices still higher. Drought across north
China the past two years has further supported many
prices." |
| UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan |
16 July 2001
Agence Press
|
"The
greatest dangers in times like these is that people will
listen to the sirens of protectionism. Nothing could be more
disastrous for the world in general or for developing
countries in particular. " |
| WTO Director-General, Mike Moore |
6 July 2001
Reuters
|
"If we cut
by a third remaining barriers to trade in agriculture,
manufacture and services, this would boost the world economy
of $613 billion … Equivalent to adding an economy the size of
Canada to the World Economy"
|
| UNCTAD |
17 May 2001
UNCTAD Press Release
|
" The estimated impact on the EU from
extending its preference scheme to cover all products (of
LDC's) except arms is negligible in every respect. The only
sector of concern is sugar, but this impact has been qualified
by the extended transition period. Negligible impacts are also
expected for the rest of the world."
|
Home
TRADE RESOURCES
