(Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 2021-06-01) Podbury, Troy; Roberts, Ivan
Countries' tariff commitments in the WTO are made on bound or maximum tariffs. In many instances, the bound rates are above both the tariff rates that importing countries actually apply and the effective levels of protection for agricultural products in these countries. The extent to which the bound rate exceeds the applied rate or the level of protection whichever is the greater is termed water in the tariff.