US Barriers to International Trade of Goods: Tariffs and Non-Tariff Measures

and development, connecting countries and businesses across the world.1 While trade barriers have consistently decreased in recent decades, leading to the unprecedented growth of trade linkages, significant barriers remain across countries: The US is no exception. Barriers hinder the free flow of goods and services between countries and hurt economies and consumers alike. In this essay, we document the prevalence of barriers to international trade in the US. One challenge when characterizing the extent of barriers in a given country is the variety of policies through which countries may limit trade. Here, we take a comprehensive look at trade barriers in the US by partitioning policies into two types: tariffs and non-tariff measures (NTMs).2 Tariffs are taxes on imports expressed as a percentage of the total value imported, effectively raising the price of imports and making domestic substitutes more attractive. Non-tariff measures encompass a broad range of policies and regulations that can also limit the free flow of goods, such as quotas, licenses, and technical standards. US Barriers to International Trade of Goods: Tariffs and Non-Tariff Measures