Antidumping: A Problem in International Trade

When in 1923 Jacob Viner wrote the book "Dumping: A Problem in International Trade", he probably did not imagine that the system put in place to eliminate the effects of dumping (i.e. antidumping) would surge to be a problem.However, as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first antidumping law, the situation is quite different from what Viner could observe at the beginning of last century.And if his economic analysis on the nature and causes of dumping is still valid, since the early 1990s the debate has centered on the widespread use and consequences of antidumping, which is just a modern protectionist tool used by many countries.This paper documents the evolution of antidumping from its early days by looking at the number of countries adopting antidumping laws and various statistics pertaining to the total caseload.One striking result is the important role of new users of antidumping, with negative consequences not only for traditional users.