The Wto And Antidumping In Developing Countries

Since the 1995 inception of the World Trade Organization (WTO), developing countries have become some of the most frequent users of the WTO‐sanctioned antidumping (AD) trade policy instrument. This paper exploits newly available data to examine sector‐level use of nine of the major “new user” developing countries, matching data on production in 28 different three‐digit ISIC industries to data on AD investigations, outcomes, and imports at the six‐digit Harmonized System product level. We present economically significant evidence consistent with theory that developing‐country industries that seek and receive AD import protection are responding to macroeconomic shocks, exhibit characteristics consistent with endogenous trade policy formation, and face some changing market conditions consistent with requirements of the WTO Antidumping Agreement. However, the evidence also suggests substantial heterogeneity in determinants of AD use across developing countries, which highlights the flexibility of this policy as a protectionist tool responsive to many different types of political‐economic shocks.