Price Undertakings in EU Anti-dumping Proceedings – an Instrument of the Past?

Price undertakings are alternatives to imposing anti-dumping duties. In the past, almost half of EU anti-dumping measures were price undertakings. This has drastically changed in recent years. We identify four reasons for the decreasing relevance of price undertakings. First, prior to the accession of Eastern European Countries (EEC) to the EU, price undertakings were heavily used vis-à-vis EEC. At the same time, China became frequent subject of anti-dumping proceedings, where undertakings were rarely used due to monitoring issues. Second, unlike anti-dumping duties, price undertakings are often difficult to monitor and can be circumvented more easily. Third, there are reasons related to the suitability of price undertakings to remove dumping practice and injurious effects, particularly in the context of high price volatility. Fourth, price undertakings may have potentially anti-competitive effects, as minimum prices tend to exacerbate competition policies.