Trade Showdown Looks Inevitable

Posted by Daniel Ikenson

Yesterday I argued that Congress’s unflinching devotion to the antidumping law poses a real threat to the world trading system. As the WTO dispute settlement mechanism renders more decisions against U.S. antidumping actions and procedures, Congress will grow more inclined to question the efficacy and legitimacy of the WTO in public. And that is a slippery slope.

I wrote:

To Congress, trade remedy laws are not the problem. Dumping and subsidization are. And the latest Appellate Body decision against zeroing makes it that much harder to combat “unfair” trade.

Accordingly, Congress is highly unlikely to go quietly into the night after the WTO’s latest indictment of zeroing. Thus, confrontation–perhaps intractable confrontation–between the United States and the WTO dispute settlement system may be in the cards later this year.

Well, judging from this news release and letter, written by the two highest ranking legislators on trade issues, “later this year” is here. Stay tuned.