The regulation of international trade by the European Communities is executed almost exclusively by Regulation 2176/84, there being little use of safeguard measures and only a recent interest in “illicit commercial practices” under Regulation 2641/84. There has been a sharp expansion of Community activity in this area, particularly with respect to Japan and to a lesser extent non-market economies, and some commentators suggest that dumping actions have become the remedy for a multitude of sins not necessarily “unfair”. Much has recently been written on the anti-dumping regime of the European Communities, including the volume by Ivo van Bael and Jean François Beilis, the leading work by practitioners, and the excellent comparative work by Edwin Vermulst. Beseler and Williams’ contribution to the literature addresses the field from the other side, that of the Community administrator.

The book is an updated and reworked translation of Dr Beseler’s 1980 German original and draws on the unparalleled experience of the authors in the area, Beseler having administered Community anti-dumping and subsidy measures virtually since their inception in the late 1960s. As such, the work stands as a definitive statement of the Community’s position on most of the issues concerned with anti-dumping and anti-subsidy actions and must be welcomed by practitioners and academics alike, although I suspect that the former will beg to differ on a number of issues found in the book. The book solidly defends longstanding Commission practice and makes no excuse for or attempt to justify some of the more controversial aspects of Community practice. It is well written and is generally clear, although I find it becomes confusing when addressing certain areas, usually those which are the source of friction between the Community and defendants, such as the deductibility of general selling expenses incurred in the Community from the export price.

Beginning with an admirable exposition of the international framework for dumping and subsidies, the work first examines dumping. The analysis contains an economic analysis of dumping and it is clear that the thrust of the authors is that dumping is economically “unfair”. This is a contentious position, and at best it can be said that there is no single sustainable economic rationale for anti-dumping legislation. However, it must not be forgotten that, even though the welfare of a nation will be improved by access to cheap imports on a long-term basis, governments are obliged out of a sense of self-preservation to address the short-term consequences of such imports. Unemployment and loss of industrial base and national pride have high social and political costs which must be factored into any “cost-