INTENDED AUDIENCE: This seminar is designed to provide in-depth instruction in the application of import relief laws. It will inform government officials who are involved in the enforcement of these laws as well as private practitioners and representatives of industries that may wish to bring import relief cases or that may find themselves defending such cases.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: Since 1947, the GATT has authorized the imposition of import relief measures, including antidumping and countervailing duties, and safeguards. Resort to these measures has become increasingly common as general tariff levels have been reduced in the various multilateral tariff rounds that have been completed under the GATT/WTO system.

Antidumping has been the weapon of choice. Since 1995, when the Uruguay Round was implemented, over three thousand antidumping investigations have been initiated, and antidumping duties have been imposed in nearly two thousand cases. There have also been a significant number of countervailing duty and safeguards cases. Traditionally almost all import relief actions were taken by developed countries, but since 1995 more than half of the cases have been brought by developing countries, with China the target of the majority of actions. India has overtaken the United States as the principal user of antidumping remedies.

Course Outline:

• Antidumping, which addresses unfair pricing
• Countervailing duties, which are designed to offset subsidies
• Safeguards, which deal with injurious imports that are “fairly” traded

Antidumping

• GATT Article VI, which “condemns” dumping and authorizes the imposition of antidumping duties to counteract it
• The WTO Antidumping Agreement, which spells out the substantive and procedural requirements governing antidumping investigations
• Conduct of the investigation
• The margin calculation, including use of best evidence available when questionnaire responses are inadequate or not verified
• The injury determination
• Administrative and sunset reviews
• Non-market economy cases, which involve special methodologies to determine dumping margins

Countervailing Duties

• GATT Article VI, which authorizes the use of countervailing duties to offset subsidies
• The WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, which lays out detailed requirements for the conduct of countervailing duty investigations, as well as imposing disciplines of the use of subsidies
• The three required elements of a subsidy: financial contribution, benefit, and specificity
• Application of countervailing duties to non-market economies, such as China

Safeguards

• GATT Article XIX, which authorizes the use of safeguards
• The WTO Agreement on Safeguards, which enlarges upon Article XIX
• The injury determination
• The remedy

Prosecuting an Import Relief Case

• Preparing the petition
• Activities during the investigation
• Demonstrating injury

Defending a Case

• Preparing the response
• Verification
• Defending the injury side