Antidumping Laws and Developing Countries

This paper finds that the current GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) consistent antidumping laws have a strong protectionist drift and a procartel bias. They endanger the very edifice of the international trade system based on GATT rules. LDCs (Less Developed Countries) and NICs (Newly Industrialized Countries) are deeply involved in antidumping actions, both as defendants and as prosecutors. They are hurt not only by antidumping actions initiated by other countries but also by their own antidumping laws, which may jeopardize their trade liberalization programs. LDCs and NICs should play an active role in reforming GATT rules to reduce the GATT bias in favor of"injured industries"that compete for imports and to make GATT rules conform more to their ongoing trade liberalization programs