The Rise of US Anti‐dumping Activity in Historical Perspective

Empirical studies of anti‐dumping activity focus almost exclusively on the period since 1980. This paper puts recent US anti‐dumping experience in historical context by studying the determinants of annual case filings over the past half century. The conventional view that few anti‐dumping cases existed prior to 1980 is not correct, although most did not result in the imposition of duties. The increased number of cases in recent decades largely reflects petitions that target multiple‐source countries; the number of imported products involved has actually fallen since the mid‐1980s. The annual number of anti‐dumping cases is influenced by the unemployment rate, the exchange rate, import penetration (closely related to the decline in average tariffs), and changes in the anti‐dumping law and its enforcement in the early 1980s.     

Anti‐dumping: A Growing Problem in International Trade

This paper discusses the issue of anti‐dumping (AD) proliferation. AD is used more frequently, by more countries, and against more products than ever in its history. I review AD filing patterns with an emphasis on the scope of countries and industries seeking protection. Recent trends suggest that the widespread embrace of AD protection makes the prospect for AD reform increasingly unlikely. AD is no longer being used solely by high‐income developed countries. It is increasingly being used by middle‐income and even lower‐income countries. New users have chosen to use AD very intensively. Per dollar of imports the new users have filed AD cases up to 15–20 times more frequently than the traditional AD users such as the US and EU. The evolving set of AD users complicates AD negotiations. In the near term, strong opposition by the US and EU makes reform a highly unlikely outcome. In the longer run, rising use of AD against the US and EU could conceivably weaken their support for AD; yet, the same trends that might finally cause the US and EU to realise AD is a failed policy will likely make reform impossible.     

Trade Policy Flexibilities and Turkey: Tariffs,Anti‐dumping,Safeguards and WTO Dispute Settlement

The commitment to lower import tariffs and to maintain tariffs at low levels entails political‐economic trade‐offs. Empirical work examining the relationship between such commitments and the ‘flexibilities’ that policymakers exercise to get around them is still relatively nascent, especially for emerging economies. This paper provides a rich, empirically based assessment of ways that Turkey exercised trade policy flexibilities during the global economic crisis of 2008–11. First, and despite multilateral and customs union commitments that might limit changes to its applied tariffs, Turkey exercised flexibilities during 2008–11 by making changes to both its applied MFN and preferential tariffs that could affect nearly 9 per cent of its manufacturing imports. Second, Turkey's cumulative application of temporary trade barrier (TTB) policies – that is, anti‐dumping, safeguards and countervailing duties – is estimated to impact an additional 4–6 per cent of Turkey's manufacturing imports by 2011. Other surprising results include Turkey's lengthy extensions to the duration of previously imposed anti‐dumping and safeguards beyond expected removal dates, conversion of product coverage from one TTB policy to another, extensive coverage of upstream and downstream segments of important industries and potential deepening of discriminatory preferences already inherent in existing preferential trade agreements.     

Anti‐dumping Protection in a Liberalising Country: Mexico's Anti‐dumping Policy and Practice

The use of anti‐dumping policy has been steadily growing in recent decades, and so has the theoretical and empirical literature on anti‐dumping. However, while developing countries as a whole have become at least as active as the ‘traditional’ anti‐dumping regimes (the USA, the EU, Canada and Australia), the literature is almost exclusively concerned with the latter group. This article gives an overview of anti‐dumping policy and practice in Mexico, one of the leading ‘new’ anti‐dumping regimes. It assesses how anti‐dumping has expanded since the country began liberalising trade in the mid‐1980s, and discusses how the policy has been applied in a protectionist way that is not dissimilar to policy practice in the traditional user countries.     

East Asia's Anti‐dumping Problem

East Asia accounts for a large and growing share of worldwide anti‐dumping (AD) activity. East Asian countries have long been the main targets of AD actions, accounting for about one‐third of all AD actions during the 1980s, more than 40 per cent of all AD actions during the 1990s, and almost 50 per cent of all AD actions in recent years. After controlling for factors that might influence filings such as the exchange rate and trade volume, it is found that East Asian countries are subject to about twice as many cases as either North American or Western European countries. Moreover, the trend in filings against East Asian countries is increasing, meaning that in recent years the propensity for countries to direct their AD filings against East Asian countries is growing. One concern is that the growing intensity of AD use against East Asia is driven by China‐PRC. Importantly, but a rising propensity is found even excluding China‐PRC.     

美国对华贸易救济调查及其影响分析

近两年来美国对中国发起贸易救济调查越发频繁,不仅增加使用双反调查的次数,还重启301调查,表面上是对中美贸易逆差扩大不满,实则为了保护美国本土产业和就业,遏制中国发展。虽然在短期内对中国出口造成一定影响,但从长远来看不会严重影响到中国对美国的出口规模和中国商品在美国的市场占有率,且对扭转中美贸易逆差的作用不明显。面对贸易救济调查,中国还应在WTO框架下积极应诉,争取各国对中国市场经济地位的承认,加快与美国在关税和贸易平衡方面的磋商和谈判。     

The Political Economy of Reforming the Anti‐dumping Laws

In the idealised economic world in which economists usually begin their theoretical analyses, the first‐best international policy for dealing with dumping is to eliminate the economic distortions that make dumping possible, e.g., tariffs, subsidies and monopoly power, and deal with relevant equity considerations through lump‐sum income redistribution. But this combination of policies generally is not politically feasible, and the use of second‐best policies is the only realistic option. Consequently, for academic economists seeking achievable AD reform, the most promising approach may be to work toward the elimination of the many current administrative practices that unfairly injure groups not directly involved in the petitioning process but accept that there can be practical circumstances where the equity concerns of petitioners trump overall efficiency objectives.     

Trade Diversion as Firm Adjustment to Trade Policy: Evidence from EU Anti‐dumping Duties on Vietnamese Footwear

This paper evaluates the impact of the 2006 European Union anti‐dumping (AD) action on Vietnamese footwear in three markets: imports to the EU, footwear producers in Vietnam, and the trade diversionary adjustment of Vietnamese firms in the US market. We find that the AD action reduced Vietnamese imports to the EU by as much as 65 per cent. Given that the EU makes up almost two‐thirds of Vietnam's footwear exports and footwear is among the top four export industries for Vietnam, this reduction is economically significant. Consistent with predictions of our model, we find evidence of trade diversion by Vietnamese producers from the EU to the US market. Our difference‐in‐difference estimates of the AD actions on the value of Vietnamese footwear imports to the United States ranged from 69 to 71 per cent over the period 2004–07 and 69 to 72 per cent in terms of quantity. These results highlight the spillover effects of trade policy in third markets when firms adjust to trade barriers. Our results are robust to triple‐difference specifications where we adjust for trend differences and a series of placebo specifications.     

Anti‐dumping Duty and Firm Heterogeneity: Evidence from Korea

This study examines the imposition of anti‐dumping (AD) duties on imported products in Korea. We use panel data for Korean firms between 2000 and 2012 and estimate the firm‐level productivity of import‐competing firms before and after AD imposition. Using a difference‐in‐difference framework, we compare firm productivity changes in a treatment group that receives AD protection to a control group that does not. In contrast to recent findings on the effects of AD measures, we find that the average protected firms experience productivity loss during the AD protection period. Examining the changes in external market condition and internal resource allocation during the protection period, such loss appears to be more evident inside highly concentrated import‐competing sectors. Further, we find that protected firms are more likely to reallocate their resources abroad via FDI at the expense of domestic production and investment once they receive temporary protection.     

Anti‐dumping Reform: Time to Go Back to Basics

This paper traces and analyses both the legal and economic history of the US anti‐dumping regime, and sets forth the shortcomings of the current system, both in regards to efficiency and equity. It then presents and explains a series of proposals for reform of the system, ranging from abolition of anti‐dumping laws and regulations and their replacement with competition laws, down to less drastic but specific changes within the existing system to render it less onerous to consumers and exporters. The paper finally details the case for substituting safeguards actions for anti‐dumping actions.     

我国入世后境外加工贸易面临的状况及其对策

我国企业到境外投资办厂，开展加工贸易，虽然时间不长，但已取得了很大的成绩。目前我国已经入世，入世对境外加工贸易既带来机遇，又带来挑战。应该在新形势下采取若干对策，以推进境外加工贸易的稳步发展。     

An Analysis of Factors Influencing the Anti‐dumping Behaviour in India

The use of anti‐dumping measures as a trade protection tool, has increased phenomenally during the last decade. One significant aspect of this new trend is the increasing involvement of developing countries. India is one such country which has emerged as a very frequent user of anti‐dumping measures, surpassing even the traditional users. It had initiated more than 300 anti‐dumping cases by the end of 2002–03. Many of these cases are against developing countries. Most of the cases are concentrated in narrow range product groups, like chemicals and petrochemicals, iron and steel, pharmaceuticals and textiles. This study examines India's experience with anti‐dumping measures. The main objective of the study is to identify the factors which might have influenced the anti‐dumping behaviour in India. Discussion of these factors shows that imports have increased considerably. This is particularly true for a number of developing countries facing dumping charges in India. At the same time, many of the domestic producers of the like products have performed poorly during the last decade. Such trends may instigate the import‐competing industries to seek anti‐dumping protection and may also influence the authority to provide that. However, the results of our statistical exercise show that, although imports and performance of the domestic industry might have influenced the initiation of anti‐dumping cases, these factors did not seem to significantly influence the final decision of the authority. The results rather indicated a tendency on the part of the authority to provide anti‐dumping protection to industries, which are characterised by a large number of firms.     

广东省出口贸易的发展战略

加入世贸组织后,广东省的出口贸易量持续增长,稳居全国首位;出口市场结构基本保持不变,仍以三大经济体为主;出口商品结构不断完善,工业制成品比重更为提高;外商投资经济主体为广东省开展出口贸易的重要性不断上升。但与此同时,广东省在加入世贸组织后也面对着由于国际国内各种因素影响所产生的一些新问题,如何采取积极有效的应对措施成为我们当前研究的新课题。     

Anti‐dumping at 100 Years and Counting: A Canadian Perspective

The world's first anti‐dumping measure was introduced by Canada as a ‘special duty’ that could be levied administratively rather than being enacted. This paper describes the features of this first measure in light of subsequent evolution of anti‐dumping practice and sets it in its historical context – an era that was a high season of globalisation but also an era marked by an awakening of economic nationalism in newly industrialising countries, and by growing angst over the power of large corporations that were emerging to exploit the economies of scale allowed by mass production, as evidenced by the concurrent evolution of anti‐combines legislation. Anti‐dumping's early integration into economic theory as an international counterpart of domestic competition policy has received some official ratification in international treaties, and governments see it as a legitimate policy, albeit one in need of international disciplines. However, analysis of the pattern of its use reveals it to be an instrument of political economy, as a convenient alternative to the WTO safeguard option. The paper explores contextual reasons why today, in another high season of globalisation, marked by concerns over corporate globalism that evoke those of the earlier era, anti‐dumping actions are proliferating where they did not then.     

The EU Anti‐dumping Policy Towards Russia and China: Product Quality and the Choice of an Analogue Country

This paper uses the theory of international trade in vertically differentiated products in order to assess whether the EU has calculated disproportionately high dumping margins in its anti‐dumping policy towards the two non‐market economies (NMEs) Russia and China since 1992. Specifically, the investigation concerns cases in which the level of economic development in and the quality of the products from the chosen analogue country are higher than in the two NMEs. The conclusion drawn here is that, even when the EU chooses analogue countries at a higher level of economic development than Russia and China, the differences in product quality and in the levels of economic development between the dumpers and the analogue countries provide no systematic explanation of the size of dumping margins.     

A Centennial of Anti‐dumping Legislation and Implementation: Introduction and Overview

A century has passed since the Government of Canada adopted the first recorded anti‐dumping law in 1904. The Canadian legislation was soon followed by similar legislation in most of the major trading nations in the industrialised world prior to and after World War I. Anti‐dumping provisions were later incorporated into the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) following World War II. Nowadays, virtually all of the industrialised and developing countries in the world economy have adopted anti‐dumping legislation. In view of the long and increasingly widespread use of anti‐dumping measures, we marked the centennial of Canada's 1904 legislation with a symposium at the University of Michigan on 12 March, 2004. The symposium papers document the experiences with anti‐dumping and then ask whether and how anti‐dumping can be reformed. Although we all would probably agree that the best solution would be to retract all anti‐dumping legislation, this is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future. Anti‐dumping laws serve a variety of purposes, and powerful political forces stand in the way of eliminating these laws. Anti‐dumping provides a stronger and more focused means of safeguards protection against surges of imports than GATT‐legal safeguards laws permit. Anti‐dumping also formalises a meaning for ‘unfair trade’ that, though essentially meaningless from an economic standpoint, strikes a chord in public perception. And finally, in spite of its appearance of being constrained by objective administrative rules, anti‐dumping in practice is a potent political tool that governments are able to manipulate in order to satisfy powerful constituents. With all this going for it, anti‐dumping is unlikely ever to be relinquished as an economic policy tool by governments.     

入世以来国际国内贸易环境的变化

本文分析了加入 WTO 以来我国国内贸易环境的变化以及我国面临的国际贸易环境的变化,并针对国际贸易保护主义提出了一些对策。