WTO says ‘product dumping’ shows amplification

Author: Neha Dhamija

According to WTO (World Trade Organization), the first half of the current year witnessed a considerable increase in the instances of dumping and products being transferred across borders at unfair prices. The ‘number of investigations’ has jumped from 61 (in the first six months of last year) to 85 (in the present year) i.e. a 39% hike. Majority of the cases of introspections were related to dumping. Further study showed that 21 were from base metal sector, 20 from textiles and 10 from chemicals.

Going by the nations, Turkey topped the list with recording 13 such scrutiny instances. The other countries are Argentina, India, United States and European nations like Australia, Brazil and Colombia. This has been the case with several countries; consequently, the measures to tackle such troublesome situations and shield the industries from dumping also have gone up, as revealed by WTO’s secretariat.
	‘Dumping’ refers to the act of transferring products from one country to another and selling it at a price, which is much below the selling price or cost of production of the home country. The data came up at a time when concerns about the halted progress of Doha round of talks caught up internationally. The discussions revolve around the liberalization of trade.