WTO: Dumping, Subsidies and Safeguards

Subject LAWS40004 (2012)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2012.

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 4 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject is not offered in 2012.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: One 2-hour seminar per week.
Total Time Commitment: 144 hours.
Prerequisites:

Legal Method and Reasoning; Principles of Public Law or in each case their equivalents.
Corequisites: None.
Recommended Background Knowledge: None.
Non Allowed Subjects: None.
Core Participation Requirements: For the purposes of considering requests for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills, and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to providing support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/.

Contact

Melbourne Law School Student Centre
Email: law-studentcentre@unimelb.edu.au
Tel: +61 3 8344 4475
Subject Overview:

This subject will examine the imposition by Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) of anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard measures to deal with the injurious effects of imports from other WTO Members, as well as Members' granting of subsidies. This is an area of vital practical interest to Australia and other countries in the region and throughout the world. It also provides the focus for some of the most fascinating and important disputes ever decided in the WTO, particularly in recent years. Currently, more than half of all WTO disputes relate to trade remedies. Principal topics to be covered:

  • Introduction to trade remedies (anti-dumping, countervailing measures, and safeguards) and subsidies including history, trends in their use, arguments for and against their use;
  • Introduction to trade remedies and subsidies within the context of the WTO;
  • Rules on the imposition of anti-dumping measures in the WTO (primarily the ‘Anti-Dumping Agreement');
  • Rules on the imposition of subsidies and countervailing measures in the WTO (primarily the ‘SCM Agreement');
  • Rules on the imposition of safeguard measures in the WTO (primarily the Agreement on Safeguards);
  • WTO dispute settlement decisions (by Panels and the Appellate Body) concerning these rules and their application;
  • Negotiations in the Doha Development Round for improvements to these rules.
Objectives:

A candidate who has successfully completed this subject should:

  • Understand the debate about the economic justification of trade remedies (anti-dumping measures, countervailing measures, and safeguards) and subsidies;
  • Understand the legal framework of trade remedies and subsidies within the broader framework of the WTO;
  • Be familiar with major WTO dispute settlement decisions (by Panels and the Appellate Body) concerning WTO trade remedy agreements;
  • Be able to interpret and apply WTO Agreements concerning trade remedies and subsidies, including advocating a particular position in a given case; and
  • Be familiar with the history of trade remedy agreements within the WTO and ongoing negotiations on these agreements within the WTO.
Assessment:

Attendance in at least 75% of classes (hurdle requirement) and a research essay of 5000 words, 100% (due during the exam period) OR a final open book examination of three hours, 100%.
Prescribed Texts:

Printed materials will be available from the Melbourne Law School.
Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.
Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:

On completion of the subject students should have developed the following generic skills:

  • Oral and written communication skills;
  • Thinking skills: critical thinking, problem-solving, analytical skills;
  • Capacities in information seeking and evaluation;
  • Planning and time management.

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