Published Date: 2023-08-09
Publication:2020.12
Principal Investigator:顏慧欣Yen, Huai-Shing
Researchers:王煜翔Wang, Yu-Shung、鄭昀欣Cheng, Yun-Hsing
The
research selected the US, EU and India—three WTO members with active use of
anti-dumping (AD) measures—as case studies, and analyzed the structure of their
trade remedy authorities, pre-investigation work, investigation procedure, as
well as whether the number of initiations and measures imposed are corelated. A
closer look into the trade remedy actions by the US (728 investigations, 502
measures, successful application rate: 69%), the EU (521 investigations, 332
measures, successful application rate: 63.7%), and India (972 investigations,
706 measures, successful application rate: 72.6%) indicates that India comes
out top among the three. A separate trade remedy analysis reveals that the
number of initiations and use of AD measures by India have exhibited
year-over-year growth, while the figures for the US have remained at the same
level. In comparison, a decreasing trend year by year has been observed for
trade remedy actions by the EU. Nevertheless, after reviewing the development
of AD regulations across these countries, the study observed no distinct
corelation between the initiation procedure and frequency of AD measures, whose
application remains largely dependent on the administrative discretion in the
investigation procedures of the competent authorities.
Taiwan
is not an active user of AD measures, partly due to the strict product scope
requirements in the application form at pre-initiation stage, according to
domestic industry feedback gathered in the study. The product scope applied for
is nearly the same as that for final implementation. In other words, when an
applicant presents a prima facie case, the burden of defining the product
involved in the case and producing proof is extremely heavy. The applicant
might therefore consider it difficult to achieve the desired outcome, or find
the procedure too challenging. Additionally, with the Ministry of Finance being
the main investigation body in Taiwan, and the International Trade Commission
of the Ministry of Economic Affairs playing a relatively minor role, the survey
respondents observed that the Taiwan government carries out AD investigations
as if they were fiscal policies, failing to be flexible in the use of such
trade remedy tool. As duties imposed affect the distribution and redistribution
of the citizen's property rights, the Ministry of Finance is naturally cautious
in exercsing fiscal discipline to make a judgment. However, considering the AD
mechanism as part of the national trade policy enables policy makers to think
and prioritize differently, leading to increased agility and flexibility in
responding to global market changes and meeting the needs of domestic sectors.
As the country with the most filed cases, India apparently applies AD actions
in a more flexible manner, despite a biased method used in the iniation of
certain cases.