U.S. Grants Ukraine Market Economy Status for AD/CVD Cases
The Commerce Department announced yesterday that Ukraine is operating as a market-economy country and that this finding will apply to all antidumping and countervailing duty investigations or administrative reviews that are commenced after February 1, 2006. This decision represents a significant change, as Commerce will no longer use the nonmarket economy methodology in calculating antidumping margins on products from Ukraine. In addition, products from Ukraine may now also be subject to countervailing duty investigations.
Higher antidumping duties are normally imposed on goods imported from nonmarket economies than on those from market economies. According to a Congressional Budget Office report, the mean and median initial duty rates imposed on goods from nonmarket economies between July 1, 1979, and December 31, 1995, were 76% and 119% higher, respectively, than the rates for goods from market economies. For an excellent overview of the nonmarket economy methodology, see the Cato Institute's briefing paper entitled Nonmarket Nonsense: U.S. Antidumping Policy toward China.
Labels: Antidumping, Countervailing Duties