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Abstract
EU agricultural products are examined by
tariff lines at eight digit level to reveal the sensitive
agricultural products in the EU after further tariff
reductions in the Doha Round. These products are
butter, skim milk powder, beef meat, poultry meat, pig
meat, white sugar, wheat, barley, and maize. A
spreadsheet model is used as an analysis tool to
complement the various modelling approaches in
identifying the sensitive agricultural products of the EU.
The spreadsheet projection model is a simple forecasting
model that uses a set of projection values from other
models to predict possible outcomes. The sensitivity of
EU agricultural products is analysed by using various
exchange rates (USD 0.90 to 1.50 per Euro), different
tariff reduction formulas (according to the EU proposal,
WTO draft proposal, and US proposal), and the
separate tariff-cut limits in the Draft formula and US
formula. The results demonstrate that cereals such as
wheat, barley, and maize are the most resilient to the
erosion of border protection due to further reduction in
tariffs in the projected Doha Round. In contrast, poultry
meat has the weakest border protection in the projected
Doha Round. The examined EU agricultural products
are very sensitive to the fluctuations of exchange rate. In
the projected Doha Round, there are no sensitive
agricultural products in the EU if the Euro is very weak
- USD 0.90 per Euro. On the contrary, a very strong
Euro (USD 1.50 per Euro) will create the greatest
amount of sensitive products in the projected Doha
Round.