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Proponents of anti-dumping are concerned with the possibility that
dumping is predatory and unfair, both because it is supported by a
government and because the exporters involved benefit from
non-contestable home markets. The actual existence of such situations is
rarely investigated by anti-dumping authorities, however. In Discussion
Paper No. 1010, Research Fellow Bernard Hoekman and Petros
Mavroidis propose that allegations of dumping first be investigated
by the local competition authorities to determine the contestability of
the relevant markets. This proposal avoids any need for harmonized
competition laws. What would change is that necessary conditions for
anti-dumping become findings by the competition authorities that the
exporting firm's home market is not contestable, and the conclusion that
no remedial action is possible through the application of competition
law. While agreement along these lines would be ideally sought in the
multilateral (WTO) context, bilateral or regional trade agreements could
also be concluded. For example, EU cooperation or association agreements
might be extended along the lines proposed. |