Amending United States Antidumping Laws to Create a Viable Private Right of Action: Must Fair Trade be Free?

This Note examines the practice of dumping in the context of recent developments in existing United States trade law and explores the potential for an effective, meaningful remedy for adversely affected domestic interests. While the discussion focuses primarily on the private right of action presently found in the 1916 Antidumping Act (1916 Act), the Note also addresses the administrative remedy contained in the 1921 Antidumping Act (1921 Act) in order to both establish a background for the legal structure of trade remedies in general and to identify the differences between the two laws. Part II considers the practice of predatory pricing to determine the type of activity prohibited by the 1916 Antidumping Act. Parts III and IV discuss the dissimilar policies, procedures, and remedies attending the current antidumping legislation. Following an evaluation of recent Congressional initiatives to amend these laws in Part V, this Note analyzes the amendments proposed in the 1987 Trade Act. Finally, Part VII suggests alternative amendments to existing law that might both protect the foundations of free trade and provide a viable means of redress for United States producers injured by dumping