Injury and Causation in Trade Remedy Law

This book addresses injury and causation issues in the context of antidumping, countervailing duty (CVD) and safeguard investigations that are covered under the WTO. The book traces the origin and the negotiating history of injury and causation in trade remedy instruments and examines how this requirement evolved in the United States and more specifically in the GATT as part of the Kennedy Code, the Tokyo Codes and later the Uruguay Round negotiating texts. The book demonstrates that terms such as “principal cause,” “substantial cause” and “a cause in and of itself” are not necessarily warranted in such instruments.  In the light of the experiences of key users of trade remedy instruments and the WTO Doha Round Rules negotiations, the book argues that causation determination does not require mathematical precision. Econometric or quantitative tools may be suggested, but such tools need not undermine the policy-laden nature of trade remedy instruments. Accordingly, the book suggests the use of weak-necessity and strong sufficiency test as a potentially viable causative framework with regard to injury and causation in trade remedies.

“While much attention has been focused on the WTO dispute settlement system’s jurisprudence regarding dumping margins and subsidies, Professor James Nedumpara’s book shines a bright and illuminating light on one of the other major components of trade remedy law—the requirement to demonstrate that dumped or subsidized or increased imports have caused injury to a domestic industry. His remarkable book thoroughly covers the entire terrain of causation and injury, from its evolution in the GATT and the WTO, to its practice in India and jurisdictions around the world, to the methodologies—both quantitative and qualitative—used in many jurisdictions to demonstrate a causal link between imports and injury. His book includes a wealth of data tucked into clear and concise tables that elucidate the precise differences in the approaches taken by countries around the world to demonstrating causation, along with an excellent discussion of various theories of causation from other areas of the law. This book is equally useful to trade law practitioners and scholars.” (Jennifer A. Hillman,Visiting Professor, Georgetown University Law Center, Former member of the WTO Appellate Body)

“James Nedumpara’s extensive analysis of injury and causation in trade remedy investigations is a significant scholarly contribution in the field of international trade law. Trade remedies are increasingly critical to the developed and developing countries in the WTO and it is important to examine how the use of such remedies could be made more coherent. This book is a must-read for anyone handling trade remedy investigations at the domestic level or in WTO dispute settlement.” (Rajeev Kher Member, Competition Appellate Tribunal & Former Commerce Secretary, Government of India)

“James Nedumpara’s book on injury and causation in the context of WTO trade remedy rules will become the one-stop shop for those litigating in this field. James examines in great detail and depth the origins of such rules, how they have been interpreted in WTO dispute settlement, and how they have been applied in several national jurisdictions. This is an outstanding contribution to the analytics of world trade law.” (Jorge Miranda, Consultant, King & Spalding, Washington, D.C.)

“Injury and Causation in Trade Remedy Law provides an insightful and illuminating analysis of one of the underexplored areas of trade remedy practice. This path-breaking study has a contemporary resonance as it analyses in incisive detail how the WTO Members are currently complying with this requirement. The book’s important claim is that injury and causation standards should derive its strength from the public choice theory considerations of these agreements, and not necessarily from causal maximalist positions supported by rigorous economic approaches. The book is a marvelous read and its contents are comparative and wide-ranging. It is an excellent and enriching contribution in the area of legal analysis of trade remedies.” (Abhijit Das, Professor and Head, Centre for WTO Studies, New Delhi)

James J. Nedumpara is an Associate Professor of Law and the Executive Director of Centre for International Trade and Economic Laws (CITEL) at Jindal Global Law School. He has several years of years of experience in the field of international trade and has worked with leading law firms, corporate firms and also UNCTAD before joining academia. His specialization is in trade remedy law and international trade regulation.  James received his Ph.D in Law from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore and holds Master of Laws degrees from the University of Cambridge, UK, the New York University School of Law, USA as well as the National University of Singapore and a Bachelor degree in Law from the Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India. He was also part of the Indian delegation that appeared before the WTO Appellate Body in India—Import Restrictions on Agricultural Products (Avian Influenza) dispute.