Pakistan’s Textiles and Anti-Dumping Laws

Abstract

Textile is one of the most heavily protected sector in developed countries. This paper addresses the issue of anti-dumping measures, a new form of trade restriction. Protectionism is still common place in textiles, tariffs remain high and progress in eliminating import quotas has been slow. In fact, protectionism is on the rise in a new guise: anti-dumping cases against Asian countries are multiplying in the US, EU and around the world. Pakistani textiles (yarn, unbleached grey cotton fabric and bed-linen) exports are being increasingly subjected to the initiation of anti-dumping investigations, which creates uncertainty and depresses business sentiment. Investigation periods are quite lengthy and the legal costs of defending against these cases are enormous. These result in a great loss of time that could be better spent in a productive manner. This phenomenon is a matter of great concern because it has created a damaging impact on the normal growth of trade. In fact, by merely initiating an anti-dumping case against exporting country's manufacturers, or even just threatening to do so, developed countries producers can cause extensive disruption to the market for an extended period of time. At the end of the day, whether dumping and injury are proven may no longer matter for some Asian manufacturers, who could be driven out of the market simply as a result of the case being initiated.