MoFT looks into WTO’s report on anti-dumping investigations, steps

According to the report which was released early December, the number of anti-dumping investigations initiated in the first half of 2010 dropped by 29 per cent, compared with the corresponding period in 2009.

The drop resulted in a decrease in the number of new measures applied during the first half of 2010 as compared with the first half of 2009.

A total of 69 new investigations were initiated by 19 countries in the first half of the year (January to June), compared with 97 investigations reported by 18 WTO member countries in the corresponding period of 2009. Fourteen WTO member countries reported applying 59 new anti-dumping measures during the first semester of 2010, with a decrease of five per cent from the 62 new measures reported by 16 member countries for the corresponding period of 2009.

Fifteen new investigations were opened by WTO’s developed member countries and 10 out of 59 new final measures were applied by developed member countries during the first half of 2010. This compares with 15 new investigations begun and 15 new measures applied by developed member countries during the first half of 2009.

The WTO’s new report noted that WTO member countries reporting the highest number of new initiations during January-June 2010 were India, reporting 17 new initiations, followed by the European Union, reporting eight new initiations, Argentina seven and Brazil five. Other member countries reporting most initiations were Australia and China (four each), Indonesia and Korea (three each), Colombia, Thailand and the United States (two each), and Canada, Chile, Jamaica, Mexico, Chinese Taipei, Turkey and Ukraine (one each).

The figures presented by the WTO’s report show increases for India, the European Union, Brazil and Israel, and declines for Argentina, China, Indonesia, Colombia, the United States, Canada, Turkey and Ukraine. The number of initiations by Australia and Mexico remained unchanged compared with the numbers reported for January-June 2009. Chile, Jamaica, Korea, Chinese Taipei and Thailand, which did not report new initiations for January-June 2009, reported new initiations for the first semester of 2010, while Costa Rica, Pakistan, Peru and South Africa, which reported new initiations for the first half of 2009, did not report new initiations for the first half of 2010.

The WTO’s report also shows that China, during the period covered (January to June 2010), China was the most frequent subject of the new investigations, with 23 new initiations directed at its exports. This represents a 30 per cent decrease from the 33 new investigations opened in respect of exports from China during January-June 2009.

The European Union (including individual member states) was second most frequent subject of new investigations, after China, with 11 new investigations directed at its exports, followed by the United States (five), Korea and Thailand (four each), Malaysia and Chinese Taipei (three each), Brazil and Japan (two each), and Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Chile, Dominican Republic, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Ukraine, and Vietnam (one each).

The products most frequently affected by these new investigations during the first half of 2010 were in the base metals sector (20 initiations), followed by the chemicals sector (11 initiations), the plastics and rubber sector (7 initiations) and the plaster and ceramic products sector (six initiations). Of the 20 reported initiations relating to the base metals sector, six were reported by India, three by Indonesia, two each by Colombia, the European Union, Thailand and the United States, and one each by Argentina and Korea.

The report noted that the sector most frequently affected by the new measures applied during January-June 2010 was the base metals sector, products of which accounted for 18 out of 59 measures reported. Products in the chemicals sector were subject to 12 new measures, products in the plastics and rubber sector were subject to 11 new measures, products in the textiles sector were subject to six new measures, and products in the machinery and electrical equipment sector were subject to five new measures, while products in the footwear and plaster and ceramic sectors were subject to two new measures each.

Concerning the measures applied on products in the most affected sector (base metals) India applied seven out of the 18 reported new measures, China came in second place with three new measures, Canada, Turkey and the United States came in third place with two measures each, and the European Union tied with Mexico, each reporting one new measure on products in this sector. —