The FT reports:
Countries' official blocks on imports have fallen to record lows, although that trend seems to be reversing as complaints against unfair competition from China increase.
New data show that “trade defence instruments” (TDIs) – principally “antidumping” duties levied against imports sold more cheaply abroad than at home and “countervailing” duties charged against government-subsidised goods – dropped to the lowest in the first half of this year since the World Trade Organisation was created in 1994.
But Cliff Stevenson, a trade consultant who collects the figures, said there had been a rapid uptick in the past three months. If the trend continued, he said, “antidumping will still be relatively low post-WTO creation but not a record low and certainly significantly above the 1980s average”.
Recent high global commodity prices have prevented many companies successfully filing antidumping cases, as it is harder to show they have been damaged by artificially low import prices.
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