Will Evolution of Smaller to Medium Sized Industries Bringing Trade Cases Continue?

While antidumping laws have predominantly been used by the U.S. steel industry in the past, small to medium-sized industries are now starting to take advantage. Dan Pickard, Chair of Buchanan’s International Trade & National Security Practice, explains how producers of more value-added downstream products, such as steel saw blades, plastic ribbons, types of master alloys and more can seek meaningful relief against unfairly prices imports.

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Video Transcript

Dan Pickard: In today’s business environment, one of the more interesting developments, especially from an international trade perspective, is the fact that small and medium-sized companies are beginning to avail themselves of the U.S. antidumping law more and more.

The antidumping law, in a nutshell, provides relief for U.S. manufactures who have been injured as a result of low priced imports. It essentially requires a showing of U.S. producers that they’ve lost sales or market share to imports. That prices have been repressed or that they’ve otherwise been negatively impacted, for example, by way of decreased prices, decreased profits, or having to go through layoffs.

Historically these cases were predominantly brought by U.S. steel industries, and to a lesser degree from the chemical industry. As largely a China phenomenon, what we see are exports start to move up the value-added ladder. So we’re no longer seeing just exports of raw steel, for example. We’re seeing more value-added downstream products – everything from steel saw blades, plastic ribbons and types of master alloys.

A variety of traditionally smaller and medium-sized industries who are beginning to be able to go to the federal agencies who are responsible for these cases and get meaningful relief that protects them – both their production operations, their profitability and their workers. This trend is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. We’re going to see more diverse industries showing up and taking advantage of these laws in order to provide a meaningful remedy against unfairly priced imports.