특별시장상황(PMS)의 적용 원칙 및 한국 적용 가능성 - WTO 규정 및 분쟁사례, 미국 TPEA 규정을 중심으로 -

Nowadays, protectionism having been widespread, the global economy suffers from the protectionism pandemic attributed to the structural trade war between the U.S. and China. One of the most well-known protectionism tools is the Particular Market Situations(PMS) provisions in Trade Preferences Extension Act(TPEA) of U.S. It was anticipated that the PMS provisions would apply to the Chinese exporters or producers at first. The PMS of TPEA provisions actually applied to the Korean OCTG producers for the first time, however. Thus, I delved into the PMS relevant provisions in WTO Anti-dumping Agreement and WTO PMS cases, as well as WTO consistency of PMS relevant provisions in TPEA of the U.S. in order to draw implications of PMS application. In conclusion, first, PMS may apply to either the ordinary course of trade or the non-ordinary course of trade only if the particular market circumstance is proved to exist. Second, PMS must apply in such a limited way as to firmly prove the particularity in the market. I believe that TPEA 504(a) per se may well be inconsistent to WTO in that PMS shall be considered as the non-ordinary course of trade without regard to any burden to prove. Third, even if PMS may exist, the authority or the petitioner must prove that the proper price compatibility results from PMS. PMS per se should not be treated as a Genie from Aladdin’s Magic Lamp. So long as the implications and principles above are ever to be abided by, Korea Trade Commission (KTC) may well apply PMS dumping margin method to real cases. Furthermore, KTC should not only proactively participate in the WTO discussions of working level regarding PMS best practices, but also closely monitor the PMS real cases in other countries such as the U.S, EU, Canada, and Australia.