Estimating the Bilateral Impact of Nontariff Measures on Trade

This paper seeks to estimate how the impact of nontariff measures (NTMs) on trade can vary across exporter–importer pairs. Covering data for the early 2000s, regressions are run at a disaggregate tariff line level and the estimated results are converted into ad valorem equivalents (AVEs). The results underline the importance of conditioning conclusions on trading partners and products and demonstrate that the same NTM can have different—even opposite—effects across exporting countries. One general pattern that emerges is that low-income importers impose more restrictive NTMs, but that the capacity for exporting countries to address NTMs increases with GDP per capita.