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We recently hosted an insightful webinar exploring strategies for UK industries to safeguard against unfairly dumped imports. We have partnered with the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) to bring you a three-part series on trade remedies, this being the first.

Moderated by Rian Geldenhuys, who oversees the ½Û×ÓÊÓƵ International Trade content, the virtual event featured a distinguished panel of trade remedy experts.

Dr. Bregt Natens, counsel in the International Commercial & Trade Practice Group at Baker McKenzie, and Raheel Shahid, a solicitor with the UK's Trade Remedies Authority, shared their invaluable expertise on obtaining protection from dumped imports. Drawing from his experience assisting industries in filing anti-dumping applications, Dr. Natens provided practical insights into navigating the process successfully. Mr. Shahid offered a comprehensive understanding of the critical factors considered by the UK's Trade Remedies Authority when evaluating such applications.

You can  or read on for the key insights from the session.

Dumping is not necessarily intentional

While dumping is often painted as an unfair trade practice, and it often is, it is most often not intentional. That is due to the definition of dumping, which goes beyond selling products cheaply or below cost in an export market. It is in fact international price discrimination, where an exporter sells its product at a lower price in the export market compared to the price for the same product in its own domestic market (the so-called normal value).  Often exporters do not benchmark their export pricing against their domestic pricing, and as a result, may be unaware they may be subject to anti-dumping duties.

View international trade practice notes, precedents and news articles

Dumping is but one part of the equation

In an anti-dumping duty application, significant emphasis is placed on whether the imported products are in fact being dumped. Applicants typically use import data to determine the export price, and conduct research in the exporter’s domestic market to establish a retail price for the product  (the normal value).

However, proof of dumping alone is insufficient to obtain protection from these dumped imports. The applicant must also demonstrate they have suffered material injury as a result of the dumped imports, and not due to other factors. While various indicators may suggest that the applicant has experienced material injury as a result of the dumped imports, investigating authorities place a lot of importance on whether the applicant has lost market share, suffered price suppression, price depression or price undercutting.

Protection will take a while

While investigating authorities are tied by maximum time periods to conclude an investigation, the process generally takes anywhere from 9 to 12 months from the date of application submission until a final decision is made.  However, applicants typically require around 3 months to prepare and submit an anti-dumping duty application, which adds to the total time it takes before protection can be granted.

As such, if the applicant is experiencing severe material injury, it is advisable to request that provisional anti-dumping duties be applied. These measures may be applied within 60 days from the initial anti-dumping investigation, but is usually only implemented after a preliminary decision, which occurs approximately 4 to 6 months from the date of initiation of the anti-dumping investigation.

Applying for protection is worth it

While the process of applying for anti-dumping protection may seem extensive, it is absolutely worth it. On average, anti-dumping duties are imposed at around 30%, which usually provides sufficient protection. It can of course be much more, depending on the specific dumping margin, determined by comparing the export price and normal value. Once imposed, anti-dumping duties remain in effect for 5 years. After this initial term, the investigating authority will determine if the duties should be extended for further subsequent 5 year periods. These extensions are common, with anti-dumping duties remaining in place for an average of 12 years from the date of initial imposition.

Want to hear more from the speakers?   to catch up and hear the full discussion.

View international trade practice notes, precedents and news articles