Implications of COMTRADE Compilation Practices for Trade Barrier Analyses and Negotiations

• Published in: The World Bank economic review Vol. 26; no. 3; pp. 539 - 555
• Main Author: Yeats, Alexander J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 01-01-2012; World Bank; Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank; Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
• Series: World Bank Economic Review
• Subjects: Bias; customs; Customs duties; equilibrium; Export-import trade; foreign trade; Foreign trade zones; general equilibrium; import statistics; Imports; International bank for reconstruction and development; International trade; international trade oommission; Legitimation; multilateral trade negotiations; Negotiation; Statistical bias; Statistics; Studies; Tariff; tariff changes; tariff line; Tariffs; trade barrier; Trade barriers; trade creation; trade data; trade models; Trade negotiation; Trade negotiations; Trade restrictions; Transportation costs; U.S.A; Valuation; World Bank; world trade; World trade organization; United States > US; TRADE CREATION; CUSTOMS; WORLD TRADE; GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM; FOREIGN TRADE; TRADE RESTRICTIONS; IMPORT STATISTICS; TARIFF LINE; INTERNATIONAL TRADE; FOREIGN TRADE ZONES; TRADE MODELS; INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION; IMPORTS; TRADE NEGOTIATIONS; EQUILIBRIUM; TARIFF CHANGES; MULTILATERAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS; TRADE BARRIER; TRADE DATA; TRADE BARRIERS
• ISSN: 0258-6770; 1564-698X; 1564-698X
• DOI: 10.1093/wber/lhr053

U.N. Commodity Trade (COMTRADE) statistics have major shortcomings for many analyses relating to tariffs and other trade barriers. The use of a cost-insurance-freight valuation base for these data results in an upward (sometimes severe) bias in the implied dutiable value of imports for countries that utilize free-on-board tariffs. This problem can be greatly exacerbated by the “general” trade system procedure used to compile the U.N. statistics, as opposed to the “special” trade practice used for the World Trade Organization Integrated Database. U.S. International Trade Commission statistics show that the combined effects of these biases can reach magnitudes that preclude the legitimate use of COMTRADE for many tariff-trade simulations or related trade negotiations.