Applying Antidumping Law to Perishable Agricultural Goods

This Note argues that the general sort of econometric test relied on by the Commerce Department in Mexican Vegetables represents a clear improvement over traditional price comparison methodology. Part I outlines important procedural and substantive aspects of the antidumping enforcement scheme and identifies several features of the traditional methodology that increase the likelihood of a less-than-fair-value finding in cases involving substantial price variation. Part II analyzes the economic characteristics of perishable agricultural goods that often produce wide variations in their prices. Part III finds that both the legislative history of the antidumping statute and economic theory proscribe only predatory pricing behavior, and argues that in most cases the price variation associated with perishable agricultural products is normal rather than predatory. Finally, Part IV considers in some detail the various econometric and statistical tests that might be used to remedy the deficiencies of the traditional price comparison formula.