EU Anti-Dumping and Other Trade Defence Instruments


Book Description

The sixth edition of this definitive work, last revised in 2011, gives detailed attention to all legislative, regulatory and judicial developments that have arisen under European Union (EU) and World Trade Organization (WTO) law on trade defence instruments up to February 2019, including the amended 2018 EU anti-dumping regulation. As trade law practitioners and scholars have come to expect from the trade law team of the Brussels law firm Van Bael & Bellis, the book continues to provide comprehensive, up-to-date analysis and critical commentary on EU instruments dealing with anti-dumping, countervailing, safeguard and trade barrier measures. The emphasis throughout is on the practical application of the rules. The book covers every issue likely to arise in any trade defence matter, including all of the following and more: determining the dumping and injury margins; rules for the determination of permissible adjustments; clarification of the terms ‘significant distortions’ and ‘distortions on raw materials’; determining the subsidy margin; determining the causal link between dumping or subsidy and injury; determining if ‘Union interest’ calls for intervention; examining the differences between anti-dumping and anti-subsidy legislation; procedural rules applicable to complaints, initiation of proceedings, investigations, protective measures, reviews and refunds; conditions for accepting an undertaking; measures that may be taken to prevent ‘circumvention’ of anti-dumping or countervailing measures; rules governing the standing of various interested parties before the European Courts; allocation and administration of quantitative quotas; and surveillance measures. As a detailed and practical commentary on the relevant aspects of the EU trade defence instruments as actually applied by the EU institutions in the light of WTO law, this book is the pre-eminent work in the field which remains without peer as a guide to EU trade defence law.




EU Anti-dumping and Other Trade Defence Instruments


Book Description

The authors [of this fifth edition] from the firm "Van Bael & Bellis" cover every issue likely to arise in any trade defence matter, including all of the following and more : determining the dumping and injury margins ; determining the subsidy margin ; determining the causal link between dumping or subsidy and injury ; determining if 'Union interest calls for intervention ; differences between anti-dumping and anti-subsidy legislation ; procedural rules applicable to complaints, initiation of proceedings, investigations, protective measures, reviews, and refunds; conditions for accepting an undertaking; measures that may be taken to prevent circumvention of anti-dumping measures ; rules for the determination of permissible adjustments ; rules governing the standing of various interested parties before the European Courts ; rules and procedure applicable to non-market economy countries ; special rules on products originating in a developing country ; allocation and administration of quantitative quotas ; surveillance measures ; and whether and to what extent safeguard measures are subject to judicial review.




The Future of Trade Defence Instruments


Book Description

This EYIEL Special Issue is devoted to the European Union’s Trade Defence Instruments (TDIs). The recent legislative changes at the EU level are indicative of global policy trends and legal challenges surrounding trade remedies law. Although TDI measures have always been a fiercely debated topic in international economic law, they have received increased attention in recent years. This book offers a comprehensive and insightful legal analysis of the recent legislative changes at the EU level and investigates TDIs in the context of regional trade relationships, including the United Kingdom in post-Brexit times. Beyond the EU, it examines the national trade defence law frameworks of important trading partners such as Switzerland, the United States, China and Vietnam.The selected contributions in this edited volume examine the recent trends in trade defence law from a legal and practical perspective and offer analytical insights from EU officials, legal practitioners and leading academics. A unique collection of essays in a changed global framework, this EYIEL Special Issue provides an up-to-date overview of the state of play of trade defence in the EU and around the globe.




Trade Defence Instruments


Book Description

The EU's trade defence policy provides protection for European companies facing unfair practices in international trade. In such cases, the European Commission can impose anti-dumping or anti-subsidy duties to restore fair competition. We examined whether the Commission successfully enforced this policy. Our conclusion was that the system for imposing trade defence instruments functions well. The Commission followed the required procedures properly during the investigations, and its justification for the decisions was satisfactory. However, the Commission could do more to raise awareness of trade defence instruments, document some checks better, and improve the way it monitors the measures and the policy's overall effectiveness. ECA special report pursuant to Article 287(4), second subparagraph, TFEU.




EU Trade Defence Law and Practice


Book Description

The European Union is one of the most outward-oriented economies in the world, and free trade is one of its founding principles. As such, instruments intended to ensure that international trade is conducted on a level playing field have been part of the EU’s policy toolbox since the beginning of European integration. Adapting to the current changes in international trade, these instruments have since undergone major reforms. This work provides an overview of the EU’s legal framework on the use of its trade defence instruments, in particular measures under the Trade Barriers Regulation, the Basic Anti-Dumping Regulation and the Basic-Anti Subsidy Regulation. The book shares valuable insights into how EU institutions currently apply these instruments and places their application in the broader political context in which international trade takes place, which has been shaped e.g. by developments related to the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU and the ongoing blockade of the WTO Appellate Body.




'Amicable Solutions' in Trade Defence. What are the Political Economic Determinants of Accepting Price Undertakings in the EU?


Book Description

Master's Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject Economics - Foreign Trade Theory, Trade Policy, grade: Distinction, London School of Economics (European Institute), language: English, abstract: When it comes to concluding a trade defence proceeding in the European Union (EU), the regulations allow for three alternative outcomes: (1) a termination without measures, (2) the imposition of a protective duty or (3) the acceptance of a price undertaking. Price undertakings are voluntary offers by foreign exporters to revise their prices so that the Commission is satisfied that the subsidization or dumping margin and their injurious effects are removed. Some welfare economists have concluded that 'a rational policy maker will always prefer duties' (Pauwels and Springael, 2002, 135). Thus, there is no rationale for price undertakings from an income maximization perspective. However, others have highlighted the role of price undertakings as a diplomatic tool in the EU's neighbourhood policy, which is powerfully evidenced by a sharp decline in the frequency of price undertakings after the EU's Eastern enlargement in 2004 (Appendix 1). Yet, a paradox persists: Out of fourteen price undertakings accepted between 2006 and 2015, only four accounted for countries in the EU's immediate neighbourhood. In contrast, price undertakings were accepted by ten countries that fell outside of Europe, with the BRIC countries accounting for nine, and China alone for five (Appendix 2). In response to this paradox, the paper reviews the following question: What are the political economic determinants of accepting price undertakings in the EU? I find the acceptance of price undertakings arises from an institutional conflict that can be foreign induced. In contrast to judicialized systems, an incomplete delegation of trade defence in the EU has led to a politicization of the trade defence proceeding. This is characterized through the empowerment of three veto-players: Community industry, Commission, and Council. Powerful foreign parties actively capitalize on the engagement of political actors and - in an effort to achieve a less harmful outcome than duties - influence the three veto-players. Eventually, price undertakings are accepted by the Commission, if only the Council signals to exert its veto-rights.




TDI Guide for EU Exporters


Book Description

With the increasing globalization of trade, companies doing business abroad, need to take into account their obligation to comply with international trade rules. This is not always an easy task. Although the general tendency nowadays is to remove obstacles to trade, the international trading system allows countries to introduce restrictive measures in order to address very specific circumstances. These measures are called trade remedies or trade defence instruments, and they are permitted only under strict conditions. There are three Trade Defence Instruments (TDI): the antidumping instrument, the antisubsidy instrument and the safeguard instrument. While the first two instruments act against unfair trade practices in cases where imports are made under conditions that are actionable under the rules of international trade, the objective of the latter is to give an industry in the importing country time to adjust to a significant increase of imports. If your competitors in foreign markets claim that you are either dumping your exports on their market, that your exports are subsidised or that they have to face a significant increase of imports which is harmful for their business, they can ask their national authorities to introduce trade defence measures in order to remedy the situation. This may in turn have an impact on your situation as you may be subject to a time-consuming investigation carried out by the national authorities of the importing country and possibly have to face measures (in the form of additional duties or quotas) on your future exports to that country. This guide will help to better understand the main concepts of trade defence and will give advice on how to deal with trade defence investigations.




TDI, Trade Defence Instruments, Anti-dumping & Anti-subsidy


Book Description

Global competition is not always fair, however, and EU competition law does not in general apply beyond EU borders. In cases of unfair competition from non-EU countries, producers in the EU can consider filing a trade defence complaint with the European Commission in order to remedy the situation, provided that the unfair competition creates difficulties for their business. Trade defence instruments (TDIs) are part of the legal framework of global trade rules established by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva. Importers and users of a product that is subject to a trade defence investigation may want to know what the options are, and if and how to best cooperate in an investigation. This guide provides you with the necessary basic knowledge of TDIs and sets out the practical steps you may want to take. It is specifically aimed at small and medium-sized businesses (also referred to as small and medium-sized enterprises or SMEs).




The European Union’s Trade Defence Modernisation Package


Book Description

Anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures are the most important elements of the European Union's trade defence instruments. Since the beginning of the European integration process, they have been used to combat trade practices which are considered "unfair" and their distortive effects on competition in the internal market. However, while the imposition of trade defence measures aims to level the playing field between EU producers and their foreign competitors, it also produces negative effects on competition itself. Based on the role attributed to competition and trade defence policy respectively throughout the European integration process, this book argues that the trading bloc's trade defence instruments should not be designed or applied with the objective of granting maximum protection to EU producers, but that their use should be limited to what is necessary to ensure fairness in competition between EU producers and exporting producers. However, an analysis of the changes made to the European Union's Basic Anti-Dumping Regulation and the Basic Anti-Subsidy Regulation by the Trade Defence Modernisation Package reveals that several aspects of the European Union's modernised trade defence instruments do not meet this requirement. Rather than being limited to offsetting the unfair competitive advantages of producers practicing dumping or benefiting from subsidies, the reformed provisions go beyond this, distorting competition in favour of the EU industry instead. Furthermore, the book critically assesses the reformed rules relating to the integration of social and environmental aspects in the imposition of anti-dumping or anti-subsidy measures as well as the modernised basic regulations’ compatibility with WTO law.