Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate the minister's response and I am looking forward to the briefing, but these are matters that ought to be put on the public record. From my understanding of the minority report of Senators Pratt and Cameron of the inquiry into the antidumping bill that I introduced last year, it seems to me that that decision made by the former government to recognise China as a market economy does in fact affect the ability of Australia to robustly prosecute a claim of dumping against China or, indeed, to raise issues of countervailing duties as a direct result of it being recognised as a market economy.

Most of the countries around the world—and perhaps this could be taken on notice as well—did not go to that step. They recognised the Chinese economy as an economy in transition, which has a different implication in terms of the way that dumping claims can be dealt with. It would be good to get on the record the difference between dealing with an economy in transition in a dumping claim and dealing with a market economy.