Removing tariff barriers to international trade

Abolishing international tariffs

Implementation

The MultiFibre Agreement (MFA) provided for the phased withdrawal of quantitative restrictions and tariff cuts, on textiles and clothing imports, to be completed by 2005. However, the degree of liberalisation implementation has been limited. Tariffs on textiles and clothing remain high relative to those in industrial products generally, and developed country importers have been slow to eliminate MFA quota restrictions (in the EU, 7 per cent of notified quota lists have been eliminated, in the US the figure is one per cent).

Claim

Tariff escalation contributes to an increase in environmental pressure in terms of depletion of natural resources, by obstructing developing countries' movement into processing before exporting. Higher tariffs on plywood than on logs, for example, may increase the extraction rate from forests in exporting countries.