USA confirmed the market status of the Russian economy, allowing to avoid anti-dumping restrictions

The US Department of Commerce, following an investigation, confirmed the market status of the Russian economy, transfers Interfax with reference to the US Department of Commerce. This means that anti-dumping duties will not be imposed on Russian imports.

The American department noted that the last time it conducted a similar investigation was in 2002. It was then that the Russian economy was given the status of a market economy. “Since then, reforms have rolled back in some areas, but have been implemented in others,” the US Department of Commerce admits.

The agency believes that at the moment “there is no obvious new evidence to justify the change in the current market status of the Russian Federation.” However, the lack of significant progress in this area is forcing the US Department of Commerce “to monitor the progress of reforms in the Russian economy in the near future.”

The reason for the investigation was an anti-dumping analysis of the supply of ammonium nitrate from Russia. Within the framework of this work, the compliance of the national economy with six criteria, which are spelled out in the tariffs law of 1930, is assessed: 1) the degree of convertibility of the currency of a foreign state into the currency of other countries; 2) the extent to which wage rates in a foreign country are determined through free negotiations between workers and management; 3) the extent to which joint ventures or other investments by firms from other foreign countries are permitted in the foreign country; 4) the degree of state ownership or control over the means of production; 5) the degree of state control over the distribution of resources and over decisions of enterprises on prices for products and volumes of output; 6) other relevant factors that the authorized body deems necessary.

In 2002, the US restricted goods from Russia (as goods originating from a country with a non-market economy) totaling about $ 1.5 billion, including “metals, fertilizers, titanium, and a number of other Russian goods.” The then head of the RF Ministry of Economic Development German Gref spoke about this.

If the economy is considered non-market, then in the course of anti-dumping investigations in the United States in relation to the supply of products from this country, the cost of production of this or that product is calculated based on the similar cost of costs for its production “in third countries”, in which it can be significantly higher (if, for example, take prices for energy resources in the Russian Federation, which are a natural competitive advantage). This makes it easy to prove dumping and introduce anti-dumping duties.

The American list of countries with a non-market economy includes 11 states: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

Obtaining market status in 2002 is one of the greatest successes of Russian economic diplomacy, spoke “Rossiyskaya Gazeta” Leading Researcher of the RANEPA, Doctor of Economics Alexander Pakhomov. China has been seeking this status for many years and has not received it.