Two essays on antidumping investigations

Abstract

This thesis consists of two studies on the impacts of U.S. antidumping investigations on Chinese exporters. In the first essay, using monthly transaction data covering all Chinese exporters over the period 2000-2006, we investigate how Chinese exporters respond to U.S. antidumping investigations. We find that antidumping investigations cause a substantial decrease in the total export volume at the HS-6 digit product level, and that this trade-dampening effect is due to a significant decrease in the number of exporters yet a modest decrease in the export volume per surviving exporter. We also find that the bulk of the decrease in the number of exporters is exerted by less productive exporters, by direct exporters as opposed to trade intermediaries, and by single-product direct exporters as opposed to their multi-product counterparts. Combined with the existing studies on the impacts of antidumping investigations on protected firms, our study helps piece together a complete picture of the impact of antidumping investigations.

In the second study of this thesis, using the same China Customs Data, we empirically investigate the effects of U.S. antidumping measures on the export product scope and product mix of Chinese multi-product direct exporters. We find that exporters experiencing antidumping measures would reduce their overall export product scope. Specifically, the affected exporters drop many of the pre-existing export products from their unaffected HS-2 industries, and diversify some new products into its downstream industries of the affected HS-2 industry. The overall export value of the new product mix does not change.