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Authors

Wissam Aoun

Abstract

The majority of proposals for international anti-dumping reform focus almost entirely on the relevant economic factors - consumer welfare losses and gains. Therefore, almost all proposals come to the exact same conclusion; in light of the enormous welfare losses suffered by domestic consumers, international anti-dumping law should be repealed in its entirety, or at least replaced by some form of international competition law. However, this analysis views the issue of anti-dumping law through the constructivist lens, and more specifically, the embedded liberalism view of international trade law. From this perspective, economics alone does not grasp the constitutive realities at play in anti-dumping law; domestic perspectives of legitimacy and fairness shape the contours of international anti-dumping law and these constitutive norms espouse a view that protectionism, in a variety of different shapes and forms, is as much a part of international trade law as the traditional laissez-faire liberalist approach. This article concludes that public interest inquiries, which form part of a small number of countries' anti-dumping laws, embrace the constitutive realities at play in antidumping law and provide an opportunity for development of legitimate international antidumping reform. This article examines the Canadian approach to public interest inquiry in anti-dumping, including recent developments.This article concludes that the current Canadian experience demonstrates that embracing a public interest inquiry as part of anti-dumping reform may provide true hope for future development based on an embedded liberalism view of international trade relations.

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