Salient Features of anti Dumping Agreement
The term “anti-dumping” refers to a set of measures that governments use to prevent foreign companies from selling their products at lower prices in the domestic market and harming the domestic industry. These measures are governed by the World Trade Organization`s (WTO) Anti-Dumping Agreement, which was first introduced in 1995. This agreement sets out a comprehensive framework for managing anti-dumping measures and includes several salient features that are essential for understanding its impact on the global trading system.
1. Definition of Anti-Dumping
The agreement defines “dumping” as the practice of exporting goods at a lower price than the normal value of comparable goods in the exporting country. The agreement establishes a legal basis for trade remedies against such unfair trade practices.
2. Investigative Procedures
The WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement provides clear guidelines for the investigation of alleged dumping activities. The agreement requires that the dumping investigation is initiated on the basis of a written complaint from the domestic industry, which must demonstrate that they have suffered material injury as a result of the dumping activity.
3. Calculation of Margins
When investigating dumping claims, the agreement requires authorities to determine the “dumping margin”. This is the difference between the normal value of the product and the export price. The agreed methodology aims to ensure that the margin is calculated in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner.
4. Provisional Measures
In cases where immediate action is required to prevent further injury to the domestic industry, the agreement allows for the imposition of provisional measures. These measures can be imposed before the completion of the investigation and may include the imposition of anti-dumping duties on the imported goods.
5. Sunset Review
The agreement requires that anti-dumping measures are reviewed periodically to ensure their continued relevance. The sunset review process aims to balance the interests of all parties concerned and to ensure that measures are only maintained for as long as necessary.
6. Exceptions
The agreement recognizes that anti-dumping measures should not undermine the benefits of free trade and provides certain exceptions to the application of such measures. In particular, the agreement provides that measures should not be imposed on imports from developing countries, provided that these countries are not themselves dumping the goods in question.
The WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement is a crucial tool for preventing unfair trade practices and protecting the interests of domestic industries. By establishing clear guidelines for the investigation and imposition of anti-dumping measures, the agreement ensures that trade remedies are only applied where necessary and that the benefits of free trade are not undermined. As an experienced copy editor in SEO, it is important to understand the salient features of the Anti-Dumping Agreement when writing about international trade.