Non-tariff barriers and the free-trade area option

Abstract

The present state of international commercial policy among the industrial countries of the world has called forth lively discussion concerning new initiatives that should be taken during the 1970s toward freer trade. The absence of such initiatives, it is felt, may well result in a general resurgence of protectionism and an undoing of the gains attained during the decade of the 1960s. One alternative would be the creation of a broad-based industrial free trade area. This possibility has aroused considerable interest in the United States, Britain and Canada as a potentially viable trade policy option for these countries. The present paper investigates the relationship between the free-trade area option and non-tariff barriers to international trade among industrial countries.

JEL: F13, F42, F53