In its final ruling issued just minutes ago, the U.S. International Trade Commission determined that the U.S. industry (Boeing) was NOT threatened with material injury by reason of dumped or subsidized imports of 100- to 150-Seat Large Civil Aircraft from Canada (Bombardier). This is big news in the trade world for a variety of reasons.

Typically, domestic industries seeking relief under these statutes (the U.S. Antidumping and Countervailing Duty laws) are successful because the evidentiary thresholds are so low. The antidumping law was changed in 2015 to lower the thresholds even further, which helps explain the near record number of trade remedy case filings in 2017. Boeing seemed to be testing how low that threshold was. As I wrote a few months ago, “The language in the statute would seem to preclude an affirmative threat of material injury finding if there haven’t been any import sales.” 

I’m glad the ITC seems to have agreed. It’s important that a case as meritless as Boeing’s, which was predicated on the notion that the domestic industry was “threatened” with material injury by reason of sales by Bombardier to Delta that haven’t even happened, of airplanes that haven’t even been built, which are of a class of aircraft that Boeing doesn’t even produce, was found wanting by the ITC. Seems like common sense, but the AD/CVD statutes accord very little room for common sense to prevail. It’s good to see some a crucial check on the system working.

But there’s still a lot of work to do to rein in the routine abuses and to make these laws more compatible with economic reality.