Free Trade in Environmental Goods: The Trade Remedy Problem

Abstract

In late June of 2013, in a major speech on climate change, President Obama announced a plan “to launch negotiations toward global free trade in environmental goods and services,” including clean energy technology.

Removing or lowering tariffs on goods such as solar panels and wind turbines would lead to lower prices and greater availability of those products. However, there is one major hurdle to progress in this area: While normal tariffs are covered by the APEC declaration, special tariffs imposed through the so-called “trade remedies” — antidumping (AD) duties, countervailing duties (CVD), and safeguards — are not.

Keywords: antidumping, countervailing duties, trade remedies, environmental goods, antidumping tariffs

JEL Classification: F18, F64, P48, Q56