AVE – Ad Valorem Equivalents

Spotlight on tariffs, in particular the problem of defining the "ad valorem equivalent" and its importance for the Doha Round of trade talks. The European Union’s agricultural market is often portrayed as an impenetrable ‘fortress’, built on a system of very high tariffs. Clearly the EU has certain high tariffs, but it is also a fact that it is the largest importer of agricultural goods in the world. Such an analogy is therefore both misleading and unhelpful in the current context of international trade negotiations. This brief aims to set the record straight and detail some of the key elements of the EU's complex tariff structure.