Adverse Effect of Antidumping Laws on Developing Countries (PDF)

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2010 in the subject Economics - International Economic Relations, , course: Economics, language: English, abstract: An unfair trade practice, dumping, occurs when a company sells its products abroad at prices lower than the price of the market in which they are produced, or even below cost. This mainly happens because export firms may have an excess capacity, and want to have a larger market share in a foreign country against domestic products. This practice is internationally considered as a practice of unfair competition. Therefore, anti-dumping measures are imposed. The anti-dumping duty is independent of import duties and functions additionally to the common tariff practices.

Many times, however, it may be the case that anti-dumping measures are imposed on certain products without having them previously dumped. This is more than dangerous. The unfair imposition of anti-dumping measures aims to strengthen the local industry against imported goods, which worsens protectionism worldwide .

Recently, the U.S. and China were engaged in announcements of additional mutual anti-dumping measures. Within a very short time, the U.S. imposed high temporary tariffs on Chinese aluminium products and steel as well as some types of paper. China responded by imposing tough antidumping tariffs on U.S. imports of chicken and nylon in retaliation. In general, the confirmation of the existence of this illegal practice is extremely difficult and requires extensive timely research. Furthermore, it should also be investigated whether the particular industry has been harmed.

In the present study, the framework of international trade and the various measures such as tariffs and quotas will be presented to understand better the international economic environment. Dumping and antidumping measures will be examined both on the financial side but also on the legal side. Finally, the effect of antidumping measures to developing countries will be further studied.