Opinion | Why trade loopholes don’t make an economic strategy
Summary
Nepal’s recent export surge, driven largely by refined soybean oil shipments to India, may reflect tariff arbitrage rather than lasting economic strength. The focus should be on building domestic resilience, improving value addition, and reducing dependence on policy-sensitive trade loopholes.
Key Points
- Refined soybean oil now makes up 40.8 percent of Nepal’s total export share, with growth tied largely to India’s tariff changes.
- The article argues that tariff arbitrage is unstable and does not create durable domestic competitiveness or broad economic value.
- Nepal’s trade structure remains vulnerable to market-access rules, standards, quality controls, and other non-tariff barriers.
- Policy should prioritize domestic production, processing, financing, certification, and market access to build economic resilience.
