The World Trade Organization (WTO) Members agreeing to China's accession wanted one of the world's largest economies to participate in the trading system, but had serious concerns about the fit of China's economy with a system based on free market principles. These concerns were reflected in China's Accession Protocol, which included a number of special obligations. One element of the Protocol recognized that, in anti-dumping proceedings addressing imports from China, Members would want to use a special methodology other than prices or costs in China to determine normal value, and it enabled them to do so absent a demonstration that prices or costs in China were market-driven. The Accession Protocol established a time-limit for this ability to presume that Chinese prices or costs were not market-driven. The authors support the position that even though the Members' ability to rely on a presumption will expire, the flexibilities provided by the Accession Protocol - including the use of a special methodology - will remain available to them so long as China's economic structure warrants their use.
Global Trade and Customs Journal