The Costs of Protectionism to Developing Countries An Analysis for Selected Agricultural Products

The purpose of this study is to quantify the welfare and foreign exchange costs that arise in developing countries as a result of the protectionist policies pursued by developed countries with respect to many agricultural products. A detailed analysis is presented for four key commodities: sugar, beef, wheat, and maize. For each commodity, the potential gains to developing countries from a complete removal of tariff and nontariff barriers in developed countries are analyzed within the framework of a comparative-static world market equilibrium model. The study considers fifty-eight developing countries as well as seventeen developed countries.