WTO Antidumping and Subsidy Agreements

Antidumping and countervailing duty measures can no longer languish on the books eternally. The new `sunset'' provision, agreed to during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, establishes a five-year time limit (from imposition or last review) on these measures.

Maintaining such measures now requires a finding that expiration would likely lead to dumping or subsidization and injury. Many member states, such as the United States, have had to modify their domestic legislation to incorporate the new rules. The commencement of the first round of sunset reviews in the United States is set for July 1998.

This timely, practical guide offers all the information on sunset reviews that practitioners in the field need to know. Separate chapters focus on the law and practice on expiration of measures before and after the Uruguay Round for the European Union (EU), Canada, Australia, and the United States--historically the major users of antidumping and countervailing measures.

Further chapters include:

• • a concise negotiating history of the provisions for context in understanding future post-Uruguay Round sunset decisions;
• • reviews of applicable legislative provisions and summaries of factors considered in applying provisions in particular cases;
• • procedural background and deadlines for sunset reviews; and
• • a comparison of the procedural requirements and substantive considerations in the sunset review systems.