| Anti-dumping dispute, an international dispute that arises very frequently in modern international trade, exerts a great negative influence on the normal operation of international trade. Many countries in the world utilize their domestic anti-dumping laws to boycott the dumping practice of exporters from other countries. The abuse of anti-dumping law is one important reason that results in anti-dumping disputes. National society standardizes the anti-dumping measures through national anti-dumping legislation, which contributes great to the rationalization of anti-dumping conduct. The dispute settlement mechanism under WTO, being pragmatic and flexible, is different from any previous traditional ones. It is a quasi-judicial dispute settlement mechanism. The dispute settlement body plays important role in this mechanism. It's due to the dispute settlement body that makes it possible to settle the anti-dumping dispute on a multi-lateral basis. Compared with the traditional methods to settle anti-dumping dispute through domestic law procedure, the WTO dispute settlement body is more fair and rational. There are many law issues relating to the dispute settlement body of WTO when it is dealing with the anti-dumping disputes. In this article only four of them are discussed, which include the coverage of cases accepted by the body, the panel and appellate body's extent of competence and their criterion of examination, the law application of the body, and the legal effect of the report made by the panel and appellate body. Through study of the legal text and cases concerned, I reached the following basic conclusions in this article. When dealing with the anti-dumping disputes, the dispute settlement body accepts appeal of all measures aimed at dumping. Members are entitled to appeal to the body not only the application of anti-dumping law, but also the anti-dumping legislation itself. The panel has the right to examine all complaints raised by the applicant on the condition that the applicant specifies the issue in controversy and the summary of legal basis. The criterion of the panel and appellate body's examination of domestic investigation are not the same with that of domestic anti-dumping legislation. As to the former, the examination should make sure that the competent authority's affirmation of fact is impartial and objective. As to the latter, the examination is to investigate, within the sphere that is necessary to settle the dispute, the most basic legal foundation on which build the domestic law, rather than thorough and overall examination of the domestic law. When dealing with the anti-dumping disputes, the dispute settlement body should apply "Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes "and "Agreement on Implementation of Article â…¥ of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994" at the same time. And it always tries to avoid conflicting interpretation of the two agreements in practice. The report made by the panel and appellate body is not compulsory during enforcement stage. It has great influence on settlement of following cases, but this attribute is not exactly the same as that of legal precedent.China was injured seriously by the anti-dumping measures. It's very important and urgent to study how to react to anti-dumping disputes. Based on the analysis mentioned above, I argue that China should make good use of the dispute settlement body of WTO to settle China-related anti-dumping disputes. In detail, this effort involves three factors, which are the government, the enterprises and the law practitioners.During the process of my writing, I extensively consulted legal text and material concerning with anti-dumping disputes and the dispute settlement body of WTO, learnt modestly from experts. Through writing of this article, I once again realize the complexity and immensity of the legal issues related to WTO. At the same time I am quite gratified that my knowledge is enhanced a bit through the arduous writing.
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