A Crafty Madness Kept Aloof Anti-Dumping as Faulted Global Governance

The international regulation of anti-dumping is truly a ‘grey zone’ in the sense that it sanctions legalized yet highly discretionary trade protectionism. However, to portray anti-dumping laws and practices as a grey zone of governance is something entirely different, for that might imply that anti-dumping has economic or other public policy justifications that transcend merely politicized responsiveness to particular international trade interests. Anti-dumping reduces welfare, both locally and globally. Anti-dumping measures do not, and should not, play an active role in public policy strategies relating to issues such as labor standards, as elaborated in this article. Moreover, North-South shifts in the global political economy, evolving trends in international services trade and international investment, and the emergence of global value chains, may partly explain the proliferation of anti-dumping and the perpetuation of the GATT/WTO’s multilateral anti-dumping regime, but they cannot justify them. If anti-dumping policy is a form of global governance, it is a deeply faulted one.