G/ADP/IG/W/54  
 
17 March 2015  
(15-1528)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices 
Informal Group on Anti-Circumvention  Original: English  
 
 ANTIDUMPING DUTY "EVASION SERVICES" 
Paper from the United States 
The following communication, dated 16 March 2015, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the United States. 
 
_______________ 
  
Background 
In accordance with the Agreement on Implementati on of Article VI of the General Agreement on 
Tariffs and Trade 1994 (ADA), antidumping duties can be applied following an investigation when 
the administering authority finds that dumped imports have caused material injury or threat of 
material injury to a domestic industry. Such duties are applied to remedy the effects of those injurious imports. If, however, exporters, resellers, and/or importers evade the application of 
antidumping duties, the measure is rendered ineffe ctive and the injurious dumping can continue to 
the detriment of the domestic industry in the importing market, as well as all exporters who trade in accordance with the rules.
1 Such evasions of the applicatio n of antidumping duties undermine 
the effectiveness of the ADA, and erode confidence  in the rules-based multilateral trading system. 
While participants in such activities can face substantial civil and criminal penalties from domestic 
customs authorities, the effectiveness of such penalties may be limited.    
Over the years, the United States has witnessed a dramatic increase in activities expressly 
designed to evade the application of antidumping duties. Websites marketing such services have 
been on the rise, and aggressive outreach is luring  exporters and/or importers into a false sense of 
security by offering so-called "legitimate" services to evade the application of antidumping duties 
to subject merchandise. Unfortunately, this problem is pervasive and is not limited to trade remedy measures. Countries are also facing similar problems in areas such as valuation, origin, and classification. This paper highlights the U.S. experience with practices related to trade 
remedies, serves to notify other Members about this growing problem, and seeks input from other 
Members on their experience when faced with similar circumstances. The United States is interested in getting Member reactions and would like to discuss this problem of antidumping duty 
evasion in more detail with an effort to identify the actions Members are taking to counter and 
eliminate evasion attempts.    
Evasion Services 
The United States has noticed a proliferation of evasion services. Operators of such schemes seek 
to assist exporters and/or importers with evad ing the application of antidumping duties. For 
example, in some instances, the merchandise that  is subject to an antidumping measure (based 
on the actual country of origin) will be shipped to an intermediary third country. The goods are 
reloaded in the third country into new containers and provided with new documents that show the third country as the originating export country. The services provided include manipulating and 
creating new invoicing, packing lists, and other related documentation to disguise the actual 
country of origin. Typically, no other services are provided that would constitute substantial transformation, significant value addition, or other activities that legitimately confer a new country 
                                               
1 While this paper is presented for discussion of the attempts at evading the application of antidumping 
duties, the experiences discussed herein are similar for countervailing duties as well. G/ADP/IG/W/54 
 
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  of origin. The same goods are then shipped to the final destination with false documentation for a 
new country of origin to evade the application of antidumping duties.  This problem has been going on for many years. However, it has become more pervasive and the 
parties have become more brazen in their activities. Accordingly, the United States believes it 
warrants a more detailed discussion in this Group.    
Continuing Problem 
In 2010, in response to the growing problem of an tidumping duty evasion, a report was published
2 
that demonstrated that it was quite easy to find providers openly willing to offer to help evade the 
application of antidumping duties.  
 
The situation has worsened since publication of that report. Companies seeking to evade a n t i d u m p i n g  d u t y  o r d e r s  n o  l o n g e r  h a v e  t o  s e a r c h  t o  f i n d  s u c h  s e r v i c e s ,  a s  p r o v i d e r s  a r e  n o w  
making the initial contact with potential clients. Exporting/Importing companies have received 
emails that state, for example:  
"We have been exporting for many years… If yo u need this product, please tell me, so 
I can quote you.  Please do not worry about the dumping duties. This order will be operated through the intermediary trade. We will send the goods to a third country; the forwarder will repack our goods for export with other company title from that third 
country. It is a legit business. Contact Us."
3   
 
The United States seeks to shed some light on this problem to this group and to discuss possible 
ways to address this growing problem as it not only serves to undermine the WTO Agreements, 
but more generally harms the trust and confidence we all place in the multilateral trading system. It is incumbent upon each of us to ensure cessa tion of practices that erode support for the WTO 
system. Silence or inactivity by the host country may also too easily be construed as tacit approval 
of, or complicity with, such illicit activities. These attempts to evade should not be allowed to operate with impunity when the business is grounded in activities to evade multilateral trade rules.  
 
The United States believes that a discussion on th is topic and a sharing of member's experiences 
and practices with respect to these activities would be useful to further understanding the extent of the problem and the means that Members may ha ve to address it. We look forward to hearing 
the reactions and input from other Members.  
  
 
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2 See http://www.wyden.senate.gov/download/?id=ab312b37-d16b-495c-a103-
c1887afb37af&download=1  
3 See http://www.cbp.gov/trade/priority-issues/adcvd/scam-alert