Trade Policy Under Regional Trade Agreement:Anti-dumping Law Or Competition Law

Dumping in the international trade refers to a behavior that exporters in one country sell a product to another countries’market for less than the domestic market price in exporting country. Anti-dumping means boycotting the dumping measures of foreign goods in the domestic market. The Anti-dumping Act of the WTO stipulates that if a member state implements anti-dumping measures, it must abide by the following three conditions. Firstly, the dumping behaviors do exist. Secondly, making sure it brings substantive damage (or the threat of substantive damage) to domestic industries, or sets substantial obstacles to establishing relevant domestic industries. Thirdly, ensuring there is the causal relationship between dumping and damage. Since the Uruguay Round, anti-dumping measures gained a rapid rise in the number, and have become standard tools in international trade policy. Among various kinds of international trade disputes, those disputes caused by anti-dumping have occupied a considerable proportion. However, under the WTO frame, only the government can adopt anti-dumping measures. At the same time, anti-dumping system has become an approach of trade protection. Conversely, it also hindered the development of international trade to some extent.Due to anti-dumping measures is the "safety valve" in international trade, most regional trade agreements retained the anti-dumping law, which may plays the role of maintaining the market order and protecting national interests. But in the frequent use of anti-dumping measures in regional trade, some disadvantages gradually appeared. They mainly manifests in these aspects:the defects of anti-dumping on the system itself, which did not consider the motives of dumping; unfairness between anti-dumping process and its result, which leave a huge space for the definition, ruling, as well as the result discretion of the dumping damage and is easily to appear. Anti-dumping measures try to maintain domestic competitive interests, and protect the competitors rather than competition itself. In the pursuit of economic integration of the regional trade agreement, it is not desirable. Accordingly, if we want to avoid disadvantages in anti-dumping, we should abrogate the anti-dumping law in regional trade agreements, and replace antidumping law with competition law.Nowadays, the main types of the anti-dumping system in regional trade agreements among international community are:remaining anti-dumping measures, abolishing the anti-dumping law and replacing anti-dumping law with competition law. In specific regional trade agreement, NAFTA did not abolish the anti-dumping law. Its originality was to set up regional agencies to deal with anti-dumping affairs. Nevertheless, The EU replaced the anti-dumping law with the unified competition law. Meanwhile, there was a supranational institution-the European commission for law enforcement. Australia-New Zealand Mode abrogated the anti-dumping law, but not implemented a unified competition law to replace. Instead, it coordinates domestic competition laws between the two countries.Comparing anti-dumping law and competition law, they have both differences and links in the perspectives of legislative purpose, actual effect, regulating object and function. But in the regional trade agreement, if all applying anti-dumping measures, the market order of fair competition will be hindered. From the perspective of the overall consideration of economic development, the regional free trade is also a kind of damage. However, the competition law is different. When regulating some behavior, it will take considerations of different subjects from various aspects, and reduce the adverse effect to the macroeconomic development of trade areas. Therefore, applying competition law is more in line with the requirements of regional trade agreement on the macroeconomic development. The EU together with Australia and New Zealand’s Closer Economic Partnership Agreement abolished the anti-dumping law, and implemented a unified competition law to replace or coordinated domestic competition law. It can be seen that replacing anti-dumping law with competition law IS Icasioic in pracnce.Most regional trade agreements signed by China had retained the anti-dumping measures. But after these trade agreements have been signed, member states’ anti-dumping actions to China are on the rise trend. This is mainly because the implementation of the regional trade agreement lowered tariffs among member states, and anti-dumping became a protection of replacing tariff. With the development of world economy and regional trade agreements, it is an inevitable trend to replace antidumping law with competition law. So the study on the issues of replacing competition law with anti-dumping law under regional trade agreement has real instructive significance. Regional trade agreements between countries should also pay attention to this issue. As a result, when participating in regional trade agreements in the future negotiations, our country should apply anti-dumping system according to the actual situation, and strive to replace antidumping law with competition law in our areas. In the meantime, we should keep balance between protecting domestic industries and promoting the economic development of trade area.