Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags : Non-Market Economy Status and U.S. Unfair Trade Actions Against Vietnam

Like China, Vietnam was required as a condition of WTO accession to accept that other WTO Members would be able to use non-market-economy methodology for an extended period (2018 in the case of Vietnam) when bringing antidumping actions against Vietnamese producers. Vietnam also agreed to the use of special non-national “benchmarks” for calculating the benefits derived from certain government subsidy programs when those programs were challenged under national countervailing duty actions. In 2009, the U.S Department of Commerce brought its first CVD action against Vietnam, Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags.This article reviews the history of such actions against Vietnam (and to a lesser extent, China), with particular emphasis on the PRCB action and its implication for future U.S. unfair trade actions against Vietnam.