Antidumping Measures: Prospects for Developing Countries

Abstract:     
This article evaluates the seven years of the Antidumping Agreement and also presents the main proposals for changes. The article suggests that changes in procedural requirements, as proposed in the current negotiations, do not necessarily imply greater legal certainty; contrarily, these changes may serve as larger obstacles for the use of those measures by developing countries, while developed countries have the ability and experience for the continuous use of those measures.

To reach this conclusion, the first part of the article reports on the world expansion of antidumping legislations after the Uruguay Round. The second part analyzes cases submitted to the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) involving AD measures. The next part evaluates proposals presented in Seattle and Doha, and confronts them with the judicial experience within the WTO and with the U.S. domestic political pressures on the matter. The final part discusses the main conclusions of the article.

Keywords: WTO, Doha, antidumping, trade policy

Working Paper Series