A Comparison of WTO and CIT/CAFC Jurisprudence in Review of U.S. Commerce Department Decisions in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings

Abstract

This Article addresses the differences between decisions by World Trade Organization
(WTO) panels and the Appellate Body, on the one hand, and, on the other, by the United States
Court of International Trade (CIT) and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
(CAFC or Federal Circuit) in appeals involving issues of antidumping and subsidies/countervailing
measures law. More specifically, it explores differences of consequence between the way in which
WTO panelists and Appellate Body members interpret and apply the provisions of the governing
WTO Antidumping and Subsidies Countervailing Measures Agreements and the way CIT and
Federal Circuit judges interpret and apply substantially similar provisions of U.S. antidumping and
countervailing duty law that purport to implement those agreements. To the extent there are
differences, the question becomes whether there is any room or reason for the twain to meet.