ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies the economic factors used by the USITC in its determinations of whether material injury had occurred in cases initiated between 1980 and 1986. The natural place to begin an analysis of the International Trade Commission (ITC) behavior in injury investigations is the material injury clause of the US unfair trade statute itself, title VII of the Trade Act of 1979. In order to carry out the empirical analysis, an econometric model formalizing the ITC's role in the injury determination process is required. The chapter also presents the method for choosing the best empirical countervailing duty (CVD) determination function. The CVD determination function does not correspond as closely to the antidumping duty (ADD) determination function as might be expected. Also the ITC does not treat the steel industry preferentially despite the huge number of petitions it has filed and its substantial political clout. Finally, mixed support for the cumulation principle exists.
