A new study from a libertarian think tank, the Cato Institute, claims that the application of anti-dumping regulations by the United States and other nations is hurting the competitiveness of U.S. exports.

Anti-dumping rules impose duties on imports of specific commodities in response to claims by domestic producers that foreign competitors are selling products at prices that are below "normal value" and that as a result, domestic producers are suffering material harm.

The authors, Brink Lindsey, director of the Cato Institute's Center for Trade Policy Studies, and Daniel Ikenson, trade policy analyst for that group, say that 62 jurisdictions now have anti-dumping measures in place, in contrast with just a dozen in 1993. "The rapid spread of anti-dumping protectionism throughout the world threatens to undo many of the liberalizing gains made through elimination of quotas and import licenses and the slashing of tariff rates," they write.

The rapid spread of anti-dumping restrictions in numerous countries hurts U.S. exporters that are trying to sell into those markets, say Lindsey and Ikenson. The authors call for international trade discussions aimed at reversing what they call "the tide of antidumping proliferation."

The report, Coming Home to Roost: Proliferating Antidumping Laws and the Growing Threat to U.S. Exports, is available on the Cato Institute's Web site at www.freetrade.org.