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Chinese exports to African markets on average face higher tariffs than do Indian exports (figure 3.10). Among leading African imports from
China
and India, coal is the only product for which India on average faces higher tariff rates than does China. For other product groups, such as nonmetal manufacturing and electronic machinery, Chinese products face much higher average tariff rates in Africa.
Nontariff Barriers in Asia and AfricaTariffs were the focus of eight rounds of multilateral trade negotiations to reduce market barriers, resulting in continued tariff reduction worldwide.
However, in place of tariff barriers, nontariff barriers (NTBs) have become increasingly common as regulatory instruments to ensure that imports meet the standards of domestic markets. Stringent environmental and technical standards are typical formal NTBs used by industrial countries and increasingly used by developing countries as well.
Delays in customs, cumbersome administrative procedures, and bribery are typical informal NTBs, and more present in developing than in developed countries (although they are not nonexistent in the latter.
Another example of NTBs, perhaps unintentional, is the burden- of-proof requirement for country of origin in preferential tariffs.
FIGURE 3.8
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