Trade Policy Reform: Lessons and Implications

This book contains a series of papers presented at the final conference sponsored by the Trade Expansion Program (TEP). The first chapter provides an overview of some of the lessons learned from the TEP ' s experience, among others, that trade policy reform is facilitated by the macroeconomic stability, even, though the last one, not necessarily needs a full attainment; that trade policy reform will only prove worthy when foreign exchange mechanisms are properly allocated; that trade reforms induce a self-sustaining behavior due to the credibility of such reforms; that the fiscal impact following trade reforms should be carefully considered, in order for these reforms to be effective and sustainable. The issues addressed in the papers range from rather abstract (What makes trade reforms politically sustainable?) to intensely pragmatic (What is the most practical design for a duty drawback system or a technical assistance program?). Hence, a diversity in interests comes from the cross-fertilization of ideas produced by different perspectives on the subject of trade policy reforms.