How did China's WTO entry affect U.S. prices?

Abstract

We analyze the effects of China's rapid export expansion following its WTO entry on the U.S. prices of manufacturing goods between 2000 and 2006, exploiting cross-industry variation in trade liberalization. Lower input tariffs in China lowered costs and, in conjunction with reduced U.S. tariff uncertainty, expanded China's export participation. WTO entry therefore led to lower effective prices for Chinese exports, and we find a substantial reduction in the prices of other countries selling to the U.S., too. The largest contribution to the overall price reduction comes from lower inputs tariffs in China, with further price reductions caused by the reduction in tariff uncertainty. Other policy reforms such as the elimination of U.S. quotas under the Multifibre Agreements and of Chinese export controls also reduced prices.