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Mechanisms to protect Gulf industries against injurious imports

It is often worrying that there is an existing or emerging industry that produces a national product with ingredients and high quality. Indeed, this industry has the opportunity to meet local demand, achieve self- sufficiency and access to the global market by exporting its products, but this dream evaporates as soon as it competes with imports. Hence, it is necessary to protect the national industry if it is affected by unfair and injured imports or injurious practices in international trade, which lead to closure and layoffs of workers, with economic and social negative consequences.

Therefore, the Gulf industry (producers in any of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries) has the right to submit a complaint to the Bureau Technical Secretariat of anti-injurious practices in international trade (Gulf Anti- Dumping Authority ( in the GCC to take the necessary measures to protect their production from injurious imports, whether dumped, subsidized, or increasing, which cause a noticeable decline in the economic indicators of the industry, including the decline in sales, profits, production, cash flow, etc., due to competition with often low-priced foreign imports, which often aim -in long run- to monopolize the market and eliminate national industries.

  • Who are eligible to file a complaint requesting this protection?

Gulf producers (Gulf industry) or its representatives who are injured by competition with dumped, subsidized, or increasing imports.

  • What forms of protection does the unified Gulf law provide for the Gulf industry?

There are 4 forms of protection against harmful imports which commonly called (Trade Remedies): -imposing anti-dumping duties for 5 years, Or imposing countervailing measures on subsidized imports, or imposing safeguards measures on increased imports, or Obliging the foreign exporter to provide price undertaking

 

  • What are the available Mechanisms to protect Gulf industries against injurious imports?

Gulf industry is protected through 3 mechanisms and according to the type injury it suffers from related to imports:

  • File anti-dumping complaint:

As a result of foreign imports entering the Gulf market at a lower price than what they are sold for in the country of origin market , since the concerned authorities impose anti-dumping fees aimed at eliminating the difference between its export price and domestic market price, which ultimately gives the Gulf product a great competitive advantage over imports in the GCC market.

  1. File anti-subsidy complaint:

It aims to combat subsidized imports from the governments of the country of origin that enter the Gulf market at low prices, causing injury to the Gulf industry because they import them at low prices, which leads to giving it a comparative advantage and preference over the Gulf product, eliminating it from the competition with low-priced subsidized imports.

  • File safeguard complaint against increased imports:

By imposing quantitative restrictions or duties on imports that arrive in a large and sudden manner, causing serious injury to the Gulf industry, preventing it from distributing its production and thus declining in sales, profit and other economies indicators of national industrial.

  • Therefore, imposing any of the aforementioned trade remedies will undoubtedly provide a wider scope and preference for the Gulf product to compete fairly with imports locally and access exports globally.

 

  • When should the Gulf industry begin taking steps to seek protection from harmful imports?

When Gulf producers who produce goods similar to those imported ones- in characteristics and end uses- and notice that economic indicators record a noticeable decline due to competition with imports, in particular a decline in sales, market share, profits, production, return on investment, and accumulation of inventory, then the industry must take immediate action by filing a complaint to protect it from injurious imports.

 

  • Can Gulf exports be protected as well?

Certainly yes, the matter does not restrict on protecting the Gulf industry in the local market, but rather extends to protecting its exports when foreign investigating authorities take measures to impose restrictions or fees on them when they are alleged to be practicing dumping or subsidy activities or a sudden and large increase in imports. As the Gulf industry is mostly an exporter in addition to being a producer and distributor in the local market, here technical and legal assistance can be provided to it during the counter-investigation procedures to avoid imposing these restrictions (fees) on its exports, which prevents it from accessing its exports to the global market.

  • Important notes that must be taken into consideration

It is worth noting in this regard that it is preferable for the injured industry, when it submits a complaint against any of the previous practices or needs to protect its exports from countermeasures, to – A) select a consulting office specialized in trade remedies investigations, since this type of investigations requires special experience-)Technically and mathematically(, and economic analyzes of a special type and in a specific way according to situation of each industry separately in terms of aspects of injury and in accordance with the procedures and conditions of both the international agreement of the World Trade Organization , national law and the practices of the investigating authorities. It also requires special administrative procedures before the investigating authorities and during the verification visit to the industry, to, since failure in any of these stages will result in losing opportunity for this protection and thus continuing to compete with injured imports for the coming years or imposing restrictions on exports in adverse cases.

 

The Gulf consultant ‘s team are distinguished by providing these services to protect industries and exports in this regard. B) In addition, it is preferable for the industry to update continuously its economic indicators to assess the extent of its injury and its need for this type of protection or not from time to time.

  • Have companies/producers ever benefited from this protection mechanisms?

Certainly, many large global and local industries, and even small ones as well, in many sectors (plastic industries, iron, chemicals, rubber, aluminum- glass – sugar… etc.) have benefited from requesting this protection and have actually been protected for periods of up to 10 years and more from competing injured imports. and even to avoid countermeasures (fees/restrictions) on its exports that would have been imposed on it for a period of 5 or 10 years.

 

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