To B(TA) or not to B(TA)? On the Legality and Desirability of Border Tax Adjustments from a Trade Perspective

Un article présenté lors de la conférence internationale « Le système commercial international face au défi du changement climatique » ("Climate Change Policies and the World Trading System: the Challenges Ahead") organisée le 24 juin 2011 par l'Iddri et la Ferdi. Cet article a également été publié dans le Vol. 34, Issue 11 (November 2011) de la revue The World Economy (pp. 1911-1937).

Résumé [en anglais] :

"This paper asks two questions concerning Border Tax Adjustments for climate purposes, when viewed from a trade perspective: first, under what conditions are BTAs possible in the WTO world? To address this issue, the paper provides a detailed discussion of the relevant law and case law. We also apply our main conclusions to what we consider to be paradigmatic cases of measures to address climate change where trade concerns are raised. We conclude that the WTO regime is no major obstacle to those aspiring to use BTAs, although the allocation of the burden of proof could be a concern. The second issue addressed is whether the economic literature on the desirability of BTAs adequately reflects concerns that have been raised in the trade policy community. Here we conclude that it has hardly addressed these concerns at all. We also point to some aspects of BTAs that would need to be taken into account in a more complete analysis."

>> En savoir plus sur la conférence « Le système commercial international face au défi du changement climatique »