China: Biggest Int'l Anti-dumping Victim

China has become the biggest international anti-dumping victim in the late 20th century. Since 1979, Chinese products have been subjected to about 400 anti-dumping charges made by foreign countries and international organizations, exerting serious impact on relevant Chinese enterprises.

Source from the "Seminar on Coping With EU Anti-dumping" reveals that country and region in the front ranks of anti-dumping against China are the United States and European Union (EU), which are important markets for Chinese products, their large-scale anti-dumping action has constituted a serious hindrance to China's export trade..

Products involved in the anti-dumping move are metal products, light industrial goods, textiles, and mechanical and electronic products. Many competitive Chinese products were completely driven out of importers' markets after the launch of the anti-dumping move. For example, China exported over 2 million bicycles to EU in 1991, but now the product has, on the whole, been driven out of its market after an anti-dumping tax of 30.6 percent was levied on the product in 1993.

The indirect influence exerted by the anti-dumping move on China's exports is that it has seriously dampened foreign enterprises' enthusiasm for investing in China, with many of them forced to shift their funds to other countries. What's more, the development of many burgeoning industries, electronic industry in particular, was greatly hindered because their products sustained the anti-dumping impact the moment they began to be exported.

Of course, Chinese enterprises involved in an anti-dumping investigation are not to be killed easily. At the end of the 1990s, Chinese firms won the lawsuit in a series of major anti-dumping cases, including cases on export of school bags, traveling cases and bags, with an export volume amounting to US$100 million. A EU lawyer's office handled more than 20 anti-dumpling cases for Chinese products, winning the lawsuit in one out of two cases on average.

In view of this situation, experts suggest that domestic enterprises should respond actively to the anti-dumping action and make full use of current international trade regulations concerning anti-dumping, with a united strong will, they should actively cope with any charges. They should neither shrink from difficulties, nor easily politicize normal business issues. On the other hand, the Chinese government should also make full use of anti-dumping as a weapon for trade protection, and legally conduct anti-dumping investigations, and stop dumping activity in import trade.



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