The procedure of applying special protective measures in foreign trade practice

The article examines the practice of applying tools of domestic market protection against unfair competition in accordance with the acting rules of the WTO. The special protective measures allowing to minimize losses of the national economy in the process of global trade liberalization became widespread in world trade sector. The peculiarity of applying these tools of selective protectionism lies in their non-discriminatory approach which allows using these methods regardless of the country of origin. The key provision of special protective measures is that they do not transform competitiveness conditions in favor of domestic producers but provide them the opportunity to adapt to the changed environment of national market. Unlike anti-dumping and countervailing measures, special protection measure has a certain degree of variability in the choice of instruments used to eliminate damage of national economy sectors. Tools of special protective measures involve the use of a special fee imposed in addition to custom fees or an import quota. The special protective measures and other measures of selective protectionism can be used only on a temporary basis in the course of a special investigation when establishing the fact of damage caused to national industries by foreign exporters. It should be noted that special protective measures can be applied due to economic and political reasons. These measures are an effective tool in the fight against unfair competition on part of foreign exporters and in reducing the negative effect of the liberalization of foreign trade relations of the state.