Dumping

Abstract

The term ‘dumping’ has been used for centuries in a general way to refer to export sales at a price low enough to cause significant harm to some interests in the importing country. Beginning early in this century, many countries instituted anti-dumping laws, and this has required a more precise definition of the term. The most common definition, both in the law and among professional economists, is export sales at a price below that at which similar goods are sold in the domestic market of the exporting country, taking into account differences in quality, attendant services and the like. However, an alternative definition, export sales at a price below the cost of production, is also incorporated into many of the laws, and this alternative has in recent years become of increasing practical importance.