Effects of Multilateral Trade Liberalization on Prices *

Jota Ishikawa and Hiroshi Mukunoki

Review of International Economics, 2008, vol. 16, issue 1, pages 37-44

Abstract: To analyze the effects of simultaneous tariff reductions by multiple importing countries on prices, we construct a simple three-country model where a good is produced by a monopolist with nonconstant marginal cost and imported by two countries. We compare two representative tariff-reduction formulas: the "fixed-amount" and the "uniform percentage" reductions. The uniform percentage reductions may increase the consumer price in the importing country, whose initial tariff is lower. Thus, importing countries with relatively low tariffs may prefer a bilateral trade agreement to a multilateral one to ensure consumer gains. Copyright © 2008 The Authors; Journal compilation © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Date: 2008

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