What Is the anti Dumping Law

In Us v. Wolff et al. (2010), honey originating in China passed through third countries before being exported to the United States in order to avoid anti-dumping duties of 221% on honey imported by China. When the honey arrived in the United States, it was declared to customs as being of non-Chinese origin and therefore was not subject to anti-dumping duties. The defendants` charges of obstruction under Section 1519 included: falsifying U.S. customs entry forms and sales records, and instructing co-conspirators not to write emails about their activities and to delete documents and emails. In the United States, the two defendants were sentenced to one year in prison (and probation), but faced between 46 and 57 months in prison if they did not cooperate with the authorities. The Committee will endeavour to promote compliance with the mutually agreed rules under the Agreement through a programme of regular reviews of semi-annual reports on anti-dumping measures during the previous six months, notifications of all provisional and definitive anti-dumping measures, and amendments to laws, regulations and administrative provisions submitted by WTO Members. The Committee also receives questions from Members on anti-dumping laws and regulations notified by Committee members. Committee meetings serve as a forum for members to express specific questions or concerns about other members` anti-dumping regimes.

The duty is set at an amount equal to the difference between the normal cost of goods in the importing country and the market value of like goods in the exporting country or in other countries producing like products. The anti-dumping duty can range from 0% to 550% of the invoiced value of the goods. When a company exports a product at a price lower than the price it normally charges in its own domestic market, or sells it at a price that does not correspond to its total cost of production, it is said to “dump” the product. It is one of the various forms of price discrimination and is classified as third-degree price discrimination. Opinions differ on whether or not such a practice constitutes unfair competition, but many governments take anti-dumping measures to protect the domestic industry. [3] No judgment is rendered in the WTO Agreement. It focuses on how governments can and cannot respond to dumping – it disciplines anti-dumping measures and is often referred to as an “anti-dumping agreement”. (This focuses only on the response to dumping and is contrary to the approach of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.) Article 5 of the Agreement lays down the conditions for the initiation of investigations. The Agreement stipulates that investigations must generally be initiated on the basis of a written complaint filed by or on behalf of a domestic industry. This ongoing requirement includes numerical limits to determine whether domestic producers receive sufficient support to conclude that the complaint is filed by or on behalf of the domestic industry and thus justifies initiation. The Agreement establishes requirements for proof of dumping, injury and causation, as well as other information on the product, industry, importers, exporters and other matters, in written requests for anti-dumping exemptions and provides that, in special circumstances, where they object without a written request from a domestic industry, the authorities act only if they have sufficient evidence of the existence of dumping, injury and causation. In order to ensure the continuation of unfounded investigations which may disturb legitimate trade, Article 5(8) provides for the immediate termination of investigations in cases where the volume of imports is negligible or the dumping margin is de minimis and sets numerical thresholds for those findings.

In order to minimise the disruptive effects of investigations, Article 5(10) provides that investigations must be concluded within one year and in no case more than 18 months after initiation. The agreement then establishes rules for determining whether the dumped imports are causing injury to a domestic industry producing a like product. Injury is defined as material injury itself, the risk of material injury, or a material retardation in the establishment of a domestic industry. The government authorities must establish the injury caused to the domestic industry and establish that the dumped imports are a cause of that injury […].