Dumping, in its most frequently used meaning, involves the sale of goods or SERVICES in a foreign market at prices that are below those in the seller’s home country. Popular reports often refer to a specific country as the offending party, but in fact dumping is generally practiced by private businesses. Dumping can also be viewed as PRICE DISCRIMINATION or predatory pricing. Price discrimination is the practice of charging different groups of consumers different prices for the same product or service. Price discrimination is based on market considerations, consumers’ willingness and ability to pay for a product, and differences in price ELASTICITY OF DEMAND among consumer groups. Generally price discrimination is not against the law in the United States, but when done internationally, price discrimination and dumping appear to be very similar practices. Predatory pricing is a pricing strategy where low prices are used to drive weaker competitors out of a market. Once the competitors have been eliminated (they are often sold to larger companies), the predatory-pricing firm can raise its prices and earn higher PROFITs. When practiced in international trade, predatory pricing can result in antidumping claims being filed by businesses and industries hurt by the actions of the exporting company. In the United States, the domestic steel industry has often filed charges of dumping against international competitors. Dumping can also be the result of government subsidies to exporters, which artificially reduce the cost of production. Governments often subsidize export industries in order to create domestic jobs and INCOME. Consumers in importing countries benefit from lower-priced products, subsidized by foreign governments, but domestic producers are forced to compete on an unfair basis. Domestic businesses then ask their government to invoke antidumping statutes. Antidumping laws have evolved since World War II through each “Round” of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations and through regional trade agreements such as the NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (NAFTA). Since the Uruguay Round in 1993, antidumping action can be brought against an importer if sales are at “less than fair value” and “material injury to a domestic industry” occurs. These phrases are open to interpretation, which has resulted in many dumping claims and counterclaims. In the United States, dumping charges are forwarded to the U.S. INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION (ITC) for consideration. The ITC investigates PROFIT margins of the exporter in their home country versus in the United States and whether the exporter has injured or potentially could injure an existing U.S. industry. If the ITC concludes that dumping has occurred, representatives from the country are contacted to remedy the situation. If no agreement is reached, the U.S. president can order higher TARIFFs be placed on products from the offending country. While individual firms and industries are accused of dumping, government-to-government negotiations and disputeresolution mechanisms are used to resolve dumping claims. Another use of the term dumping refers to the selling of securities in financial markets. If a seller orders the sale of a large number of securities at whatever price he or she can get, the seller is said to have “dumped” the securities in the market.