Import Diversion Under European Antidumping Policy

Abstract

This paper is the first to study empirically the effects of European antidumping actions on import diversion from importers 'named' in an antidumping investigation, and potentially subject to protectionist measures, to countries not named' in the investigation. For this purpose we use a unique data set at the 8-digit product level. The amount of import diversion can be regarded as an indication of the effectiveness of antidumping policy which is used to protect the home industry from foreign imports. We find that -- in contrast to the US -- trade diversion in the European Union caused by antidumping actions is rather limited. This result holds even after controlling for selection-bias in the antidumping investigation procedure. We offer a number of explanations for the difference between Europe and the US regarding trade diversion.