Administration of the Antidumping Act of 1921

Two recent reports on aspects of the Antidumping Act of 1921 revealed the following: the test of the act's effectiveness has never been measured; dumping investigations are timely, but the assessment of dumping duties is not; dumping duty liability is large, but the precise amount is hard to determine; and the adequacy of bonding requirements for potential dumping duties has not been tested. No studies were identified concerning the effect of the act on import prices, but the consensus of Government officials, trade associations, and importers was that antidumping proceedings create uncertainty in the marketplace that prompts some adjustments in prices. Since the actual assessment of duties is seldom done in a timely manner, the arrival at a reliable estimate of importers' outstanding liabilities for dumping duties is difficult. By applying the dumping margins used by the Treasury Department in making its tentative dumping findings of the value of unliquidated entries, a rough estimate of about $700 million owed as of June 1, 1978, is provided. The actual dumping margin is determined on an entry-by-entry basis by comparing the price in the country of origin with the price to the U.S. importer on a given day. Customs' officials claimed that no dumping duties were lost because of inadequate bonding from October 1976 to July 1978.