Groundnut Trade Liberalization: Could the South Help the South?

Beghin, John C.; Diop, Ndiame; Matthey, Holger

World Development Vol. 34 no. 6 (June 2006): 1016-1036. (Originally published as #03-WP 347)

This paper analyzes policies affecting global groundnut-products markets. The new US groundnut policy is now a minor source of distortion in world markets where India and China stand out as the major distorters. We analyze and quantify the effects of groundnut-products trade liberalization on consumer welfare and producer income. Our analysis shows that African exporters would gain significantly from reductions in protection and subsidies in India, and to a lesser extent, China, although Chinaメs exports of food-quality groundnuts would expand dramatically. Net-importing OECD countries would suffer from higher world prices. The paper draws direct implications for the Doha trade negotiations.

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