Trade Policy Strategies and Enforcement Choices: An examination of the 1992 Steel Antidumping Cases

Abstract

The decade of the 1990s was marked by signiflcant changes in trading regimes around the world. New regional trading blocs, such as the European Community and the North American Free Trade area, emerged; traditional trade barriers, primarily tariffs, were substantially reduced or are headed toward elimination; many quotas and voluntary export restraints have expired; and, the Uruguay Round of global trade negotiations concluded in 1993 with new rules and a new World Trade Organization. These developments suggested an inexorable movement toward freer and more open trade. But, as the more recognizable trade barriers disappeared, administered trade became proportionately more important. "The reductions in tariffs have led governments to resort to other practices which constrain trade, and the restriction most often applied is antidumping law" (Anderson et al., 1995, p. 321).