Working Paper: NBER ID: w9625
Authors: Bruce A. Blonigen; Richard Boltuck; Alan Deardorff; Robert Feinberg; Tom Prusa
Abstract: Previous literature has discussed the procedural biases that exist in U.S. Department of Commerce (USDOC) dumping margin calculations. This paper examines the evolution of discretionary practices and their role in the rapid increase in average USDOC dumping margins since 1980. Statistical analysis finds that USDOC discretionary practices have played the major role in rising dumping margins. Importantly, the evolving effect of discretionary practices is due not only to increasing use of these practices over time, but apparent changes in implementation of these practices that mean a higher increase in the dumping margin whenever they are applied. While legal changes due to the Uruguay Round are estimated to have reduced the baseline U.S. dumping margin by 20 percentage points, the increasingly punitive discretionary measures used by the USDOC almost completely compensated for this decrease by 2000.
Keywords: Antidumping; Discretionary Practices; Dumping Margins; U.S. Department of Commerce
JEL Codes: F13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| USDOC's discretionary practices (L49) | increase in dumping margins (F18) |
| increasing application of discretionary practices (K40) | increase in dumping margins (F18) |
| legal changes from the Uruguay Round (F13) | reduction in baseline U.S. dumping margin (F18) |
| punitive discretionary measures (E64) | compensation for reduction in dumping margins (F18) |
| evolving discretionary practices (O17) | upward trend in average dumping margins (F18) |