Summary: The discussion focused on the implementation of antidumping legislation as it relates to the steel industry. A previous GAO report dealt with the problems and issues in administering the Antidumping Act of 1921 under amended provisions contained in the Trade Act of 1974. A number of recommendations were made to improve legislative provisions and their timely administration. The Trade Agreements Act of 1979 repeals the Antidumping Act, and the new antidumping provisions will be included in the Tariff Act of 1930. It is believed that if the new provisions are properly implemented, the intended improvements in the effectiveness and administration of the antidumping legislation should be accomplished. In 1978, the steel trigger price mechanism was implemented to monitor imports and to self-initiate antidumping investigations. It essentially eliminated the requirement that the steel industry file a petition alleging that imported merchandise is being dumped in the U.S. market. However, the steel industry faces the same administrative and investigative procedures as any other industry upon formal initiation of an antidumping investigation. The areas of particular concern which the GAO recommendations addressed were: reducing the time for investigating whether goods have been sold at less than fair value; developing information on the impact of antidumping legislation and its effectiveness in protecting U.S. producers from unfairly priced imports; reducing delays in assessing dumping duties; and improving administrative practices such as injury determinations, the application of arbitrary minimum percentages of expenses and profits to calculations of sales, and the uniform application of bonding requirements.
