Gains from Trade in Tax Revenue and the Efficiency Case for Trade Taxes

The paper analyses the gains from trade in distortionary tax revenue between countries, focussing on the case where lump-sum reveue transfers are restricted. In this case, trade taxes can be used to transfer government revenue between countries, and such taxes will typically be used in Pareto-efficient international equilibria. Global production efficiency conditions are often, though not always, satisfied at Pareto-efficient allocations involving trade taxes, but the implications for international taxation differ from those that have been put forward on the basis of the Diamond-mirrlees production efficiency theorem.