Calendrier du 26 juin 2023
Roy Seminar (ADRES)
Du 26/06/2023 de 17:00 à 18:15
Salle R1-09, Campus Jourdan, 75014 Paris
GSIELM (Graduate Students International Economics and Labor Market) Lunch Seminar
Du 26/06/2023 de 13:00 à 14:00
Maison des Sciences Economiques, Salle 116
SALIB Youssef (PSE)
Carbon bias of tariffs: are fossil fuels the culprits?
Recent literature has argued that current tariffs cause an increase in CO2 emissions. Tariff levels are negatively correlated with direct and indirect CO2 emissions intensity per dollar of output, according to 2007 data. Is this carbon bias of trade an important gap in climate policy? This paper uses a quantitative trade model and the most recent trade and tariff data to confirm the existence of this bias between 2007 and 2019. This paper also integrates other GHG in the analysis, which reduces the bias substantially. Removing the bias by applying the same tariff for all goods in each bilateral relationship results in a reduction in GHG emissions of 0.6 to 1.4% depending on the year and model specifications. This bias can be broken down by sectoral origin. Low fossil fuel tariffs account for most of the effect, while tariffs applied to agriculture, brown industries and other sectors account for less than a quarter of the effect. Moreover, in non-producer countries, taxes on fossil fuels are equivalent to tariffs. If these taxes are integrated in the analysis, the bias entirely disappears. These findings suggest that removing the carbon bias of import tariffs may not be a priority for environmental policy-making.