Global Antidumping Database Confirms Increased Number of Trade Remedy Cases

According to data compiled by the Global Antidumping Database, the first quarter of 2009 saw an 18.8% year increase in the number of antidumping, countervailing duty, global safeguard, and China-specific safeguards brought by WTO members compared to the same period in 2008. Not surprisingly, China's exporters were the dominant target of these investigations, accounting for more than 2/3 of the new cases.

The Global Antidumping Database is a project of Chad P. Bown, an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and International Business School at Brandeis University and a Fellow in the Global Economy and Development Program at the Brookings Institution.

An analysis of the data prepared by Professor Bown shows that:

Compared to the same time period in 2008, the first quarter of 2009 also saw a 15.4% increase in the imposition of new import-restricting tariffs and quotas upon completion of earlier investigations initiated under these trade remedy laws, a trend that will almost certainly continue to increase throughout the remainder of 2009 and into 2010. While India imposed the most new import barriers under these laws during this time period, other G-20 members that did so include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, the EU and its member states, South Korea, Turkey and the United States. China's exporters are the dominant target for these newly imposed import restrictions facing new barriers in over 70% of the cases.

The complete and detailed data on antidumping investigations will be made available in early summer 2009 as version 5.0 of the Global Antidumping Database.