Are AD/CVD Duties Effective?

Trade protection is a driving concern for the U.S. steel industry that has seen prices and domestic demand plummet as low priced steel imports flooded American shores. Steel mills, unions and legislators have lobbied for stronger enforcement of trade policies and the additional safeguards from dumped and subsidized imports and currency manipulation.

Currently the focus is on three major antidumping and countervailing duty cases affecting the flat rolled steel industry: hot rolled, cold rolled and corrosion resistant steels. The preliminary decisions on these cases are due in December and January, and one decision on corrosion resistant steel the countervailing duty preliminary decision has already come out; but the filing of the cases has had a milder impact on the prices of these products than many expected. The question is then: do AD/CVD filings actually work?