What’s Wrong with EU Anti-Circumvention Rules and How to Fix it

Abstract

Where circumvention of anti-dumping duties is taking place, some countries’ anti-dumping laws allow the extension of the anti-dumping duty to imports of the like product from a third country, or of a slightly modified product from a third country or the country subject to the duty. The objective of anti-circumvention rules is to ensure the effectiveness of the imposed anti-dumping duties, i.e. that no unfairly traded products are sold on the export market. However, most anti-circumvention rules do not require the investigating authorities to conduct a fully fledged anti-dumping investigation in order to extend the anti-dumping duties. Taking EU anti-circumvention provisions as an example, this article explains, first, that anti-circumvention provisions are imperfect in addressing circumvention practices from a substantive perspective; second, that these provisions arguably are inconsistent with the World Trade Organization’s Anti-dumping Agreement; and, third, that the laudable objective behind such rules can be achieved by using other legal tools.