Bureaucratic politics, policy learning, and changes of antidumping policy and rules in Japan

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/14770021311312476
• Pages: 4-22
• Date: 22 March 2013
• Published date: 22 March 2013
• Author: Joon‐heon Song,Kyoung‐joo Lee
• Subject Matter: Economics

Bureaucratic politics,

policy learning, and changes

of antidumping policy and

rules in Japan

Joon-heon Song

School of Business and Commerce,

Tokyo International University, Saitama, Japan, and

Kyoung-joo Lee

College of Business and Economics, Gachon University,

Kyungwon Campus, Seongnam-City, Republic of Korea

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to deepen understanding of the interrelated questions: how Japanese

antidumping policies have been formulated and transformed; what the reasons are for such caution in

adopting antidumping measures; and what patterns can be observed of recent changes in antidumping

policy and legal systems.

Design/methodology/approach – To explain the changes in antidumping policy and rules in

Japan, this paper examines not only political competition among bureaucratic organizations but also

policy learning by bureaucratic organizations and their effects on change in policy preferences and

advancements in the legal system.

Findings – The effects of bureaucratic politics and policy learning not only complexly interact but

also are highly complicated to initiate policy changes in accordance with the maturity of antidumping

legal system. In this case study, the policy learning has led the rival bureaucrats to a consensus to

change antidumping policy and legal system, but the agreement could be a temporal truce that may

easily collapse by political contingencies.

Originality/value – Along with the inf‌luences of large-scale economic and political dynamisms, this

paper focuses on two aspects of the policy subsystem to explain those changes: one is political

competition among bureaucratic organizations claiming jurisdiction of antidumping policy; the other

is the effect of policy learning among bureaucratic organizations on changes in policy preferences and

on advancements in antidumping rules.

Keywords Antidumping,Bureaucratic politics, Policy learning,Japan, Bureaucracy

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

Antidumping measures have become one of the most important issues in foreign trade

policy. In a world of liberalized trade, with decreasing use of traditional protectionism

instruments such as tariffs, quotas, and voluntary export restraints (VERs), the

signif‌icance of antidumping measures has drastically increased in foreign economic

policy over the past decades (Niels, 2000). The fact that members of the World Trade

Organization (WTO, 2012) initiated 4,010 antidumping investigations between 1995

and 2011 highlights the importance of antidumping as an effective policy measures to

address international trade conf‌licts.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/1477-0024.htm

Journal of International Trade Law

and Policy

Vol. 12 No. 1, 2013

pp. 4-22

qEmerald Group Publishing Limited

1477-0024

DOI 10.1108/14770021311312476

JITLP

12,1

4

Extant research has actively analyzed the effects of antidumping petitions on

changing trade patterns, as well as the competitive benef‌its they bring to the petitioning

industries and f‌irms. Furthermore, researchers have also paid great attention to critical

aspects of the national differences of antidumping rules and practices, and to their

diverging effects on the operation of antidumping systems. However, few studies have

paid due attention to how such critical antidumping policies and rules are formed and

changed. The objective of this paper is thus to examine the factors and processes that

drive changes in antidumping policy and rules, based on a long-term analysis of the

antidumping system in Japan.

In spite of the implementation of the GATT Article VI and the WTO antidumping

agreement, antidumping policies and laws among states vary signif‌icantly, having

substantial inf‌luences on their usability and effectiveness for domestic industries.

Thus, a better understanding of how antidumping policies are formed and ho w they

change is a crucial issue, not only for the theorists of foreign economic policy but also

for policy makers.

As one of the largest traders in the world economy, Japan has been a popular target

of antidumping by trade partners, accounting for about 4.1 percent of the world’s total

antidumping investigations between 1995 and 2011 (Table I). However, in spite of

ever-increasing domestic demand for antidumping measures on the part of declining

industries, the Japanese Government has long been extremely cautious about using

policy measures against foreign exporters, formally f‌iling only seven cases during the

last three decades.

This paper aims to deepen our understanding of the interrelated questions: how

Japanese antidumping policies have been formulated and transformed; what the reasons

are for such caution in adopting antidumping measures; and what patterns can be observed

of recent changes in antidumping policy and legal systems. Regarding the antidumping

enforcement in Japan, Ohnesorge (1997) and Yoshimatsu (2001) presented a detailed

analysis on the early antidumping practices in terms of national industrial policy and

political economy, respectively. Particularly, Ohnesorge (1997) recognized the presence

of discretion of the bureaucrats as well as strains between the government agencies.

AD investigations initiated

Countries targeted by

AD investigations

Rank Countries No. % Countries No. %

1 India 656 16.4 China 853 21.3

2 USA 458 11.4 South Korea 284 7.1

3 EU 437 10.9 USA 234 5.8

4 Argentina 291 7.3 Taiwan 211 5.3

5 Australia 235 5.9 Japan 165 4.1

6 Brazil 232 5.8 Indonesia 165 4.1

7 South Africa 216 5.4 Thailand 164 4.1

8 China 191 4.8 India 155 3.9

9 Canada 155 3.9 Russia 124 3.1

10 Turkey 148 3.7 Brazil 114 2.8

Note: Total number: 4,010

Source: Calculated by authors from data of WTO (2012)

Table I.

Major antidumping

investigating and

targeted countries from

1995 to 2011

Changes of

antidumping

policy

5