EU trade defence instruments : protectionism in disguise ?

Abstract

The differences existing in national competition laws and in the regulatory standard between states call for some protective measures to which WTO members can resort. As J. Jackson (1997), stated: 'As world economic interdependence has increased, it has become more difficult to manage relationships among various economies. This problem is analogous to the difficulties involved in trying to get two computers of different designs to work together. To do so, one needs an interface mechanism to mediate between the two computers. Likewise in international economic relations, particularly in trade, some interface mechanism may be necessary to allow different economic systems to trade together harmoniously. The world trading system has provided for three broad interface mechanisms: antidumping and countervailing actions, which entail allegations of unfair trade (illegal price discrimination and illegal or countervailable subsidies) and safeguard actions, which do not allege unfairness but merely posit that a nation needs time to adapt to rapidly changing competitive conditions (Barfield, 2004). Antidumping, the most widely used trade defence instrument is provided for under Article VI of the GA TT and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Antidumping Agreement. The basic criteria required under the terms of the GATT for action to be taken are that a product is being 'dumped' and that this dumping is causing injury to domestic producers of the like product. Although exporters are not prohibited from dumping per se, the importing country is entitled to take action as long as these criteria are met.