This paper estimates the impact on a sample of 34 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries of eliminating tariffs on imports from the EU under Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), considering trade, welfare and revenue effects. Even assuming ‘immediate’ complete elimination of all tariffs on imports from the EU, some two-thirds of ACP countries are likely to experience welfare gains; the ACP overall and the average ACP country gain. The overall welfare effect relative to GDP tends to be very small, whether positive or negative. While potential tariff revenue losses are non-negligible, given that countries have at least ten years in which to implement the tariff reductions, there is scope for tax substitution. An important issue is identifying the... |