International trade disputes used to be relatively simple.
One country would build up an industry to create jobs, and then dump excess products in another country at below-cost prices. Competitors facing unrealistically cheap imports would file “anti-dumping” complaints to seek government-backed protections.
That’s what happened decades ago when U.S. steel companies got fed up with Japanese makers of steel pipe. In 1978, the U.S. International Trade Commission issued a “cease and desist” order to stop Japan’s “predatory pricing.”
Ah, but those were simpler times.
