24 March 2025 What are non-tariff barriers and why is agriculture so exposed?

In The Conversation, Lincoln University's Professor Alan Renwick discusses when a non-tariff measure may become a barrier to trade, with particular reference to the Australian agricultural industry.

Since the return to power of US President Donald Trump, tariffs have barely left the front pages.

While the on-off-on tariff sagas have dominated the headlines, a paper released this week by the government’s Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) has highlighted other barriers. These non-tariff measures could actually be having a greater impact in terms of preventing trade.

The report says these non-tariff measures are equivalent to Australian agricultural exporters facing a tariff of 19%.

ABARES use a broader definition of “non-tariff measures”. This circumvents the tricky problem of trying to ascertain whether a non-tariff measure is justified or unjustified.

Non-tariff measures can be separated into categories, such as sanitary and phytosanitary (food safety and plant/animal health-related), technical barriers to trade (food standards, labelling, and so on) and quantitative restrictions (such as quotas).

Read the full article to learn more non-tariff measures in agriculture at The Conversation here >>

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