Australia's antidumping experience

One side of the debate about anti-dumping argues that dumping is not a problem in international trade - that it is a normal business practice which benefits the importing country's consumers and user industries - and that anti-dumping is inherently protectionist. The other side argues that an anti-dumping system has a legitimate role to play in maintaining a liberal trading order, but that the process is being abused for protectionist ends. Three sets of conclusions about reforms to anti-dumping have emerged from this dual debate: (a) tighten anti-dumping procedures to reduce scope for abuse; (b) broaden their focus, to take into account wider economic interests; and (c) abandon anti-dumping altogether. The purpose of this paper is to use the Australian experience over the past decade to shine some light on the issues raised internationally. The paper begins by briefly outlining the varied history of Australia's anti-dumping arrangements and activity since the late 1970s. It then looks at the Australian experience from the perspectives of the debate just referred to and ends with some conclusions relevant to that debate.