China disputes U.S. antidumping methodologies

   China notified the World Trade Organization Secretariat on Dec. 3 of a request for consultations with the United States regarding the use of certain methodologies in anti-dumping investigations involving Chinese products.
   In its request for consultations, China alleges that the U.S. Commerce Department uses certain anti-dumping methodologies that are inconsistent with the U.S. obligations under the WTO Anti-dumping Agreement. These methodologies include the use of a “targeted dumping methodology,” including zeroing, in original investigations and administrative reviews; the presumption that all producers and exporters from countries that the United States considers non-market economies (“NME”) comprise a single entity (also referred to by China as “single rate presumption” methodology); the calculation of a single dumping margin or a single anti-dumping duty rate for that entity (“NME-wide methodology”); and the use of inferences that are adverse to the interests of a party when the Commerce Department considers that this party has failed to cooperate.
   This is the eighth case filed by China against trade remedy measures adopted by the United States and the fourth such case filed this year, according to the WTO.
   The request for consultations formally initiates a dispute in the WTO. Consultations give the parties an opportunity to discuss the matter and to find a satisfactory solution without proceeding further with litigation. After 60 days, if consultations have failed to resolve the dispute, the complainant may request adjudication by a panel.