Antidumping and the WTO
While antidumping doesn't get a lot of press, it is certainly one of the biggest issues that the WTO is dealing with today. During the recent WTO Ministerial Conference in Seattle, much was mage about protesters who were demanding higher environmental standards or international labor standards. Little was mentioned about antidumping. However, In the midst of the many demonstrators there were steel workers and members of other union organizations like the AFL-CIO who were there to defend US antidumping laws. Antidumping regulation was a major issue for Seattle as it is for the organization of the WTO in general. From the inception of the WTO, there has been controversy over antidumping laws from diverse groups. Some countries feel that other countries place antidumping measures on products that have not really been dumped. Since the 1994 Uruguay Round, many developing nations feel that they have been unfairly targeted for antidumping penalties by the industrialized nations. Countries such as Japan and South Korea have also called for reforms. The US, being the largest economy in the world tends to be on the receiving end of much of this controversy about its national antidumping laws. Adding to the confusion, not man
Also many countries, not just the developing nations, contend that the appropriate prices are not be used by [other] developed nations, especially by the US. According to some Japanese analysts, the US only uses a few selective (unrepresentative) price statistics of a few companies in determining the importers' domestic price. Then, they use this analysis to enact antidumping measures against firms from that country [Japan] in related industries. (Dumler) Antidumping is the practice where governments place tariffs or quotas or duties on imported goods that they believe are being dumping in their in order to prevent their domestic industries from collapsing due to the importer's unfair pricing. Examples of goods that often affected by antidumping measures are steel, computer screens and supercomputers, and agriculture. If in fact a domestic industry is indeed having competing products being dumped in its country, it is possible that it could be injured. The lower price imports could decrease the amount of domestic products purchased, and domestic companies may not be able to lower their prices in order to compete with these imports. Thus, antidumping procedures may be prudent in these cases. The Offer curves graph shows one major result of a large country slapping a tariff on a small trading partner (in the specific market)- a decline in the terms of trade for the small country. In graph 5, the US imports steel from India and exports food. Line A is the original international price line with equilibrium achieved at point A. When the US slaps a tariff on steel, its Offer curve shifts backward to the Offer curve with tariff. Line B in now the new price line with equilibrium at point B. The relative price pf/ps with a tariff is greater than pf/ps without the tariff. Thus, the terms of trade for India have declined for India. And as Ricardian theory shows, a long term decline in the terms of trade with result in a long term decline in real wages. This could mean the developing countries could get poorer and poorer. A country must also prove that the dumping injures or threatens to injure domestic industries. The term injure has a very specific meaning. . Injury means that there is an unfavorable effect on many different aspects of the industry, including (actual and potential declines in sales, profits, output, market share, productivity, return on investments, and capital utilization. (K & S Law).
Some common words found in the essay are:
Antidumping Agreement, Canadians Currency, WTO AD, W0 W1, WTO Council, Czech Republic, Pf India's, Tariffs Trade, WTO Japanese, India Ricardian, antidumping measures, antidumping laws, developing countries, developing nations, industrialized nations, third world, domestic price, wto's antidumping, terms trade, steel industry, wto's antidumping laws, third world countries, decline terms trade, nations capital labor, medium size firms,
Approximate Word count = 4062
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page double spaced)
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