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U.s. Commerce Department On The World 's Lowest Cost Producers

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China has been the number one target of antidumping actions filed by the U.S. Commerce Department on behalf of various domestic industries. One reason for this special status is because China is one of the world’s lowest cost producers. Because of the cost structure of its industries and economy, as well as the fact that it tends to manufacture products at the low end of the quality scale, it is able to sell a wide range of products for lower prices than most competitors. Furthermore, because it is classified as a nonmarket economy, special rules must be used to determine the cost of production. It is unlikely that the frequency of antidumping action will decline in the near future. Indeed, because the antidumping laws are becoming more …show more content…

In order to take such action, the government must prove that dumping is taking place, calculate the extent of it (how much lower the export price is compared to the exporter’s home market price), and show that dumping is actually causing material injury.
Antidumping laws, which punish foreign producers for selling their products in domestic markets at low prices, have been in existence for decades. Since the finalization of the Uruguay Round of GATT they have taken on increased importance, and the GATT agreement included an antidumping provision to which all signatories must adhere. Before the recent GATT agreement was concluded, only about 40 countries had antidumping provisions in their domestic laws.
After the Uruguay Round, more than 120 countries agreed to adopt and enforce the GATT antidumping laws. In the past few years, China has been the most frequent target of antidumping actions initiated in the United States.
This paper begins with an overview on China’s economic trade since the accession to WTO followed by an examination of how US has been responding to some Chinese imports utilizing trade defense by looking at China as anti-dumping target and some recent case studies involving antidumping actions initiated in the USA against China and attempt to determine what the frequent exercise of the antidumping laws might mean for the future. The paper concludes with a brief commentary and recommendations.

In 2001, China had the 6th largest

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