The Macroeconomic Effects of Trade Tariffs

Download or read book The Macroeconomic Effects of Trade Tariffs written by Jesper Lindé and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2017-07-07 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We study the robustness of the Lerner symmetry result in an open economy New Keynesian model with price rigidities. While the Lerner symmetry result of no real effects of a combined import tariff and export subsidy holds up approximately for a number of alternative assumptions, we obtain quantitatively important long-term deviations under complete international asset markets. Direct pass-through of tariffs and subsidies to prices and slow exchange rate adjustment can also generate significant short-term deviations from Lerner. Finally, we quantify the macroeconomic costs of a trade war and find that they can be substantial, with permanently lower income and trade volumes. However, a fully symmetric retaliation to a unilaterally imposed border adjustment tax can prevent any real or nominal effects.