Summary: In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the International Trade Commission's (ITC) disposition of its antidumping and countervailing duty investigations of agricultural imports to determine whether: (1) ITC appropriately applied its requirements to agricultural growers and harvesters; and (2) the documentation requirements disadvantaged agricultural interests in the investigations.
GAO found that ITC: (1) terminated 6 of 29 cases GAO analyzed because it found no indication of material injury to the domestic agricultural industry due to the imports; (2) still had 2 cases pending; (3) terminated 3 cases due to Department of Commerce findings and actions; (4) reached preliminary affirmative injury determinations in 18 cases, of which it reached a final determination of injury in 8 cases; (5) excluded 14 cases because they did not involve growers or harvesters; (6) had no questionnaire problems that impeded its ability to reach determinations; and (7) used information from many sources, making it too difficult to ascertain what information led to each determination.
