A Foreign Affairs Best Book of the Year: “Tells the history of American trade policy . . . [A] grand narrative [that] also debunks trade-policy myths.” —Economist Should the United States be open to commerce with other countries, or should it protect domestic industries from foreign competition? This question has been the source of bitter political conflict throughout American history. Such conflict was inevitable, James Madison argued in the Federalist Papers, because trade policy involves clashing economic interests. The struggle between the winners and losers from trade has always been fierce because dollars and jobs are at stake: depending on what policy is chosen, some industries, farmers, and workers will prosper, while others will suffer. Douglas A. Irwin’s Clashing over Commerce is the most authoritative and comprehensive history of US trade policy to date, offering a clear picture of the various economic and political forces that have shaped it. From the start, trade policy divided the nation—first when Thomas Jefferson declared an embargo on all foreign trade and then when South Carolina threatened to secede from the Union over excessive taxes on imports. The Civil War saw a shift toward protectionism, which then came under constant political attack. Then, controversy over the Smoot-Hawley tariff during the Great Depression led to a policy shift toward freer trade, involving trade agreements that eventually produced the World Trade Organization. Irwin makes sense of this turbulent history by showing how different economic interests tend to be grouped geographically, meaning that every proposed policy change found ready champions and opponents in Congress. Deeply researched and rich with insight and detail, Clashing over Commerce provides valuable and enduring insights into US trade policy past and present. “Combines scholarly analysis with a historian’s eye for trends and colorful details . . . readable and illuminating, for the trade expert and for all Americans wanting a deeper understanding of America’s evolving role in the global economy.” —National Review “Magisterial.” —Foreign Affairs

Antidumping trade protection is one of the most frequent and ubiquitous trade policies in the global economy. This volume brings together the key reference pieces in the antidumping literature that have critically defined and shaped what we know about this important and unique form of trade protection. An introductory chapter by the editors, both scholars in this area, critically analyzes the literature and discusses its future directions. This is an important reference volume not only for new and established scholars in international economics, but also policymakers and legal intellectuals.

All three parts [of the book] are without question extremely detailed and thorough treatises of the three different instruments of contingent protection. The case law of the DSB as well as policy proposals put forward in the Doha Round are referred to and analysed extensively. Every part of the book is an excellent and very thoughtful work on the respective instrument and will be helpful for everyone working in the field. Christoph Herrmann, Common Market Law Review Although the legal landscape is littered with literature about the WTO, antidumping, safeguards, subsidies and countervailing measures, the missing piece has been a comprehensive text tying together the law and economics of these topics. Mavroidis, Messerlin and Wauters fill this gap. The authors form an unparalleled triumvirate who successfully draw on their complementary legal-economic experiences from policymaking, practitioner expertise and academic scholarship to comprehensively examine contingent protection. In a single book, they manage to explain the economics to the lawyers, the law to the economists, and the increasing importance of contingent protection policies to everyone. Chad P. Bown, Brandeis University, US The new book by Petros Mavroidis, Patrick Messerlin and Jasper Wauters, The Law and Economics of Contingent Protection in the WTO, fills a gap in the international trade literature by providing a comprehensive, interdisciplinary (law and economics) treatment of three of the most arcane and least well-understood trade protection regimes permitted under the GATT/WTO, i.e., anti-dumping, countervailing duties, and safeguards. The authors expertly weave together both a comprehensive and rigorous analysis of the complex legal rules and case law with an economic critique of the law governing each of these three regimes. The book is a tour de force and will become the standard reference work for scholars, policy makers, and practitioners specializing in these areas. Michael Trebilcock, University of Toronto, Canada Trade barriers that are contingent on the existence of specific conditions dumping by, or subsidization of, exporters, and injury of domestic firms have historically been used intensively by many OECD countries and are now increasingly applied by developing countries. This volume provides an excellent discussion and accessible analysis of WTO rules on contingent protection and the rapidly expanding case law. The authors have done a major service to both legal practitioners and trade policy analysts with an interest in this area. Bernard Hoekman, The World Bank, US In this important book, three of the leading authors in the field of international economic law discuss the law and economics of the three most frequently used contingent protection instruments: anti-dumping, countervailing measures, and safeguards. When discussing countervailing measures, the authors also discuss legal challenges against prohibited and/or actionable subsidies. The authors choice is mandated by the fact that the effects of a subsidy cannot always be confined to the market of the WTO Member wishing to react against it. Assuming there are effects outside its market, an injured WTO Member can challenge the scheme as such before a WTO Panel. Taking the three agreements for granted as a starting point, the book provides comprehensive discussion of both the original contracts, and the case law that has substantially contributed to the understanding of these agreements. The agreements discussed by the authors provide generally worded disciplines on Members and leave a lot of discretion to the investigating authorities of such Members. A great number of the many questions that arise in the course of a domestic trade remedies investigation are not explicitly addressed in these agreements. In such a situation, the authors highlight the important role that the judge has to play. Much like domestic investigating authorities adopt a line which is either more liberal

The U.S. antidumping law enjoys broad political support in part because so few people understand how the law actually works. Its rhetoric of “fairness” and “level playing fields” sounds appealing, and its convoluted technical complexities prevent all but a few insiders and experts from understanding the reality that underlies that rhetoric. CONNUM? CEP? FUPDOL? TOTPUDD? DIFMER? NPRICOP? POI? POR? LOT? Confused? You’re not alone. Even members of Congress, whose opinions shape the course of U.S. trade policy, are baffled by those devilish details. Antidumping Exposed book seeks to penetrate the fog of complexity that shields the antidumping law from the scrutiny it deserves. It offers a detailed, step-by-step guide to how dumping is defined and measured under current rules. It identifies the many methodological quirks and biases that allow normal, healthy competition to be stigmatized as “unfair” and punished with often cripplingly high antidumping duties. The inescapable conclusion is that the antidumping law, as it currently stands, has nothing to do with maintaining a “level playing field.” Instead, antidumping’s primary function is to provide an elaborate excuse for old-fashioned protectionism. The authors offer 20 specific proposals for reform of the World Trade Organization’s Antidumping Agreement. Their analysis and ideas should be of great interest to businesses, trade lawyers, and trade negotiators around the world.

The authors [of this fifth edition] from the firm "Van Bael & Bellis" cover every issue likely to arise in any trade defence matter, including all of the following and more : determining the dumping and injury margins ; determining the subsidy margin ; determining the causal link between dumping or subsidy and injury ; determining if 'Union interest calls for intervention ; differences between anti-dumping and anti-subsidy legislation ; procedural rules applicable to complaints, initiation of proceedings, investigations, protective measures, reviews, and refunds; conditions for accepting an undertaking; measures that may be taken to prevent circumvention of anti-dumping measures ; rules for the determination of permissible adjustments ; rules governing the standing of various interested parties before the European Courts ; rules and procedure applicable to non-market economy countries ; special rules on products originating in a developing country ; allocation and administration of quantitative quotas ; surveillance measures ; and whether and to what extent safeguard measures are subject to judicial review.