Myth of Japanese Efficiency: Dumping of Compact Disc Players

Japanese CD player producers themselves submitted evidence of dumping. In their royalty statements on CD player sales, tremendous differences between domestic and export prices for identical models became apparent. On the basis of this data, a calculation reveals they were actually inefficient and that without dumping they did not stand a chance on world markets. If Philips operated under the same conditions, it would have been profitable, in spite of the distress and serious havoc caused by colossal dumping. The length of the anti-dumping procedure, which reflected the lenient attitude of the European Commission toward the trespassers, allowed the dumping practices to continue for a long time and relocation to other countries. Finally, it appeared inevitable that production in Europe would be abandoned and transferred to Asia. Continuation would have meant the complete annihilation of manufacturing by European producers of CD players.