Special topic

Are tariffs an issue of the past, thanks to progress in multilateral or preferential trade liberalization? Many analysts are turning their interest to non-tariff measures (NTMs) or trade facilitation because nominal tariffs seem too low to make a difference, 5% being sometimes presented as the threshold below which a difference in nominal tariffs does not matter anymore. Today, most of North-North trade is subjected to duties lower than 5% while 80% of developing country exports to developed country markets is duty free. With South-South trade dominated by low tariff commodities, custom duties appear more as an addition to total trade costs rather than a barrier to trade, except for some specific product lines that still suffer from peak rates.