No anti-dumping law yet

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Bangladesh has been at the forefront in the last decade in embracing prescriptions for trade liberalisation. However, Bangladesh's experience after such liberalisation has not been a happy one. Its neighbouring countries have been exporting products to it at artificially low prices having no relationship to actual costs of production to create sway over the markets in Bangladesh in monopoly fashion. If this is not dumping, then what is ? A number of products continue to be dumped in the Bangladesh markets by producers from China, it was reported. But in the absence of anti-dumping laws in Bangladesh nothing can be done about these offences.
Therefore, time has come for Bangladesh to take further tariff lowering steps only after due serious evaluation of the impact of the same on its economy. Bangladesh is a number of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules and the WTO rules require its members to remain steadfast in the path of trade liberalisation. But under the WTO guidelines members countries are under no compulsion not to take actions against dumping.
Bangladesh could take advantage of such flexibility in the WTO rules to give legitimate protection to its domestic industries. Specially, it could adopt an anti-dumping law to this end as was adopted years ago by its neighbours and even the developed countries.
Shafique Ahmed
Dhanmondi, Dhaka