Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 9 • Number 7 • 2nd March 2005
Friends Of Anti-Dumping’ Call For Action To Match Progress In Other Areas
‘Members disagreed on how best to progress in negotiations on anti-dumping, subsidies and countervailing measures at the 23 February formal meeting of WTO Negotiating Group on Rules.
At the meeting, Korea presented a Senior Officials’ statement (TN/RL/W/171) calling for accelerated WTO negotiations on anti-dumping rules. The statement was originally issued 11 February following a meeting of the ‘Friends of Anti-dumping Negotiations,’ a group of countries seeking to tighten rules on the application of anti-dumping measures (see BRIDGES Weekly, 16 February 2005, http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/05-02-16/WTOinbrief.htm#2). The Korean ambassador called for progress in rules negotiations on par with that in other areas — such as agriculture and non-agricultural market access — by the time of the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference in December, given that anti-dumping is an "indispensable pillar of the negotiations that sustains the whole Doha Development Agenda package." To be able to make progress, he said, Members would need to prepare "a stepping-stone, that is, a textual basis… that can pave the way for the final stage of negotiations."
The statement also outlined six negotiating objectives: mitigating the ‘excessive effects’ of antidumping measures; preventing such measures from becoming permanent; strengthening the due process and transparency of dumping proceedings; reducing the cost of anti-dumping cases (often prohibitive to small firms); ensuring a quick end to unjustifiable investigations; and improving and clarifying rules on what constitutes ‘dumping’ and ‘injury.’
Reacting to the statement, the US was not wholly enthusiastic about the idea of moving towards a text at this stage, although it said it was willing to engage in deeper discussions of key issues. India, supported by Egypt, said it was unprepared to discuss a text, and emphasised the need for more attention to developing country issues such as special and differential treatment. The EU said it sought to find a middle ground between the ‘Friends’ and others, and called for pragmatic compromises.
The ‘Friends of Anti-dumping Negotiations’ include Brazil, Canada, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, Israel, Norway, Switzerland, India and Colombia, though not all of the ‘Friends’ signed the 11 February statement. Countries such as the US, Egypt and India are heavy users of anti-dumping and countervailing measures. The US has been defending the right to use such measures, and advocates changing disciplines to make it harder for potential ‘dumpers’ to circumvent them.
Rules discussions also progressed on fisheries subsidies (see related story, this issue). The next meeting of the Negotiating Group on Rules is scheduled for 11-13 April.
ICTSD reporting.