Anti-Dumping, Subsidies, and Safeguards
The WTO Agreements
Binding tariffs, and applying them equally to all trading partners (most-favored-nation treatment, or MFN), are key to the smooth flow of trade in goods. The World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements uphold these principles, but they also allow exceptions — in some circumstances. Three of these issues are: actions taken against dumping (selling at an unfairly low price); subsidies and special "countervailing" duties to offset the subsidies; and emergency measures to limit imports temporarily, designed to "safeguard" domestic industries. Anti-Dumping Actions If a company exports a product at a price lower than the price it normally charges in its own home…
