A comparative analysis on the requirements to impose anti-dumping duties on goods imported into the European Union and South Africa

Abstract

International trade plays a vital role in the functioning of our world today and is important for a country’s economic development. However, without clear rules and regulations, countries may engage in unfair trading practices which can be detrimental to other countries’ economic development. To ensure fair trading practices, the World Trade Organization (hereafter WTO) sets out multilateral trade agreements that regulate international trade. When dumping occurs, WTO members have an obligation to follow the provisions laid down by the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (1994), known as the Anti-Dumping Agreement (hereafter the ADA). South Africa (hereafter SA) and the European Union (hereafter EU), who are both WTO members, have an obligation to follow the provisions of the ADA. For a country to impose anti-dumping duties, certain requirements first have to be met in accordance with the ADA as well as that country’s own anti-dumping national legislation. SA and the EU both follow the ADA and their own national legislation regarding the imposition of anti-dumping duties. The EU’s legislation contains four requirements to consider before imposing anti-dumping duties during the anti-dumping investigation where SA’s legislation contains three requirements. The steps SA’s legislation follows during the anti-dumping investigation are mostly aligned with the EU’s legislation. However, a noticeable difference is the inactiveness of the Tariff Board in SA which is supposed to assist during the investigation process. The EU has the Union Trade Defence Instrument Committee to assist with the investigation process where, in SA, the Tariff Board is supposed to fulfil this role. Overall, there are differences and similarities between the EU’s legislation and SA’s legislation when it comes to the requirements to impose anti-dumping duties. This study compares the requirements to impose anti-dumping duties on goods imported into the EU and SA by analysing how SA’s legislation aligns with the EU’s legislation.