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Business Reading Room
Glossary and Acronyms - from D to
E
A An
B C Con D
E F G H
I J K L
M N O P Q R S Sp T U VWXYZ
DA
See Development Assistance
DACON
See Data on Consulting Firms
Dairy Export Incentive Program
DEIP, one of four export subsidy programs operated by the Department of Agriculture, helps
U.S. exporters meet prevailing world prices for targeted dairy products and destinations.
USDA pays cash to U.S. exporters as bonuses, allowing them to sell certain U.S. dairy
products in targeted countries at prices below the exporter's costs of acquiring them.
DEIP is used to help products produced by U.S. farmers meet competition from subsidizing
countries.
Data on Consulting Firms
DACON is a computerized roster of consulting firms interested in doing business on World
Bank-financed projects. The Bank uses DACON registrations to select firms to be considered
for short lists (that is, a select list of firms to be invited to submit proposals) as
well as to review the qualifications of firms proposed by the borrower. Registration
eligibility includes minimum size and experience requirements. Consulting firms are not
required to register; registration does not constitute the Bank's endorsement of the
firm's qualifications or the Bank's approval of the firm's appointment for any specific
project. The use of the acronym DACON is not limited to the World Bank; for example, the
Inter-American Development Bank also maintains data on consultants in its separately
administered DACON.
Date draft
A draft that matures in a specified number of days after the date it is
issued, without regard to the date of acceptance. See Draft, Sight draft, and Time draft.
Deadweight loss
The net loss in economic welfare that is caused by a tariff or other source of
distortion, defined as the total losses to those who lose, minus the total gains to those
who gain. Usually identified in a supply-and-demand diagram in terms of change in consumer
and producer surplus together with government revenue. The net of these appears as one or
two welfare triangles.
Debenture
1. A debt that is not backed by collateral, but only by the credit and good faith of
the borrower.
2. A certificate issued by customs authorities entitling an exporter of imported
goods to be paid back duties that have been paid when they were imported. Such a refund is
called a drawback.
Debit
Recorded as negative (-) in the balance of payments, any transaction that gives rise
to a payment out of the country, such as an import, the purchase of an asset
(including official reserves), or lending to foreigners. Opposite of credit.
Debt capital
Money raised by selling bonds, the principal and interest on which must be repaid.
Debt crisis
A situation in which a country, usually an LDC, finds itself unable to service its
debts.
Debt default
When a debtor fails or refuses to pay a debt.
Debt/equity swap
An exchange of debt for equity, in which a lender is given a share of ownership to
replace a loan. Used as a method of resolving debt crises.
Debt rescheduling
Defaulted debt is renegotiated, giving the debtor a longer time to pay, a lower interest
rate, or both.
DEC
See District Export Councils
Declaration by Foreign Shipper
The U.S. Customs Service defines this term as a statement by the shipper in the foreign
country attesting to certain facts. For example, articles shipped from the United States
to an insular possession and then returned must be accompanied by a declaration by the
shipper in the insular possession, indicating that, to the best of his or her knowledge,
the articles were exported directly from the United States to the insular possession and
remained there until the moment of their return to the United States.
Decreasing returns to scale
A property of a production function such that changing all inputs by the same
proportion changes output less than in proportion. Example: a function homogeneous of
degree less than one. Also called simply decreasing returns. Not to be confused
with diminishing returns, which refers to increasing some inputs while holding other
inputs fixed.
DCS
See Defense Conversion Subcommittee
Deed of Assignment
A banking arrangement between the beneficiary of a letter of credit and a third
party - usually the supplier of the goods - who requires an assurance of payment. The
beneficiary of the credit is the assignor part of the proceeds of the credit are
irrevocably assigned to the assignee.
Deed of protest
Document evidencing that a protest has been carried out. In a collection, a bank may be
asked to do this if a bill of exchange is not paid, accepted or honored at maturity.
Deep integration
Refers to economic integration that goes well beyond removal of formal barriers to
trade and includes various ways of reducing the international burden of differing national
regulations, such as mutual recognition and harmonization. Contrasts with shallow
integration.
Default
Failure to repay a loan. International loans by governments and private agents lack
mechanisms to deal with default, comparable to the legal mechanisms that exist within
countries.
Defense Conversion
"Defense conversion," as applicable to conversion of U.S. defense activity, is
the transfer of defense production capabilities to non-defense production, either
non-defense industrial products (e.g., pumps and valves) or consumer goods. The Russians,
according to their Defense Conversion Law, have a broader definition, which includes the
possiblity of a plant maintaining its defense production while expanding its non-defense
production for other purposes, including the generation of hard-currency exports.
Defense Conversion Subcommittee
The DCS promotes trade between U.S. industry and the Russian defense sector by identifing
investment opportunities, supporting changes in U.S. government export control and other
policies which limit opportunities for U.S. industry to participate in Russian defense
conversion activities, and identifying prospective business contacts for U.S. industry.
Subcommittee membership includes the Departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, Labor, and
State, the Agency for International Development, the Export-Import Bank, and the Overseas
Private Investment Corporation. DCS is a subcommittee of the Intergovernmental U.S.-Russia
Business Development Committee which was established in June 1992.
Defense Memoranda of Understanding
Defense MOUs are defense cooperation agreements. The MOUs are signed by DOD with allied
nations and are related to research, development, or production of defense equipment or
reciprocal procurement of defense items. See also: Coproduction.
Defense Priorities and Allocation System
The goals of the DPAS are to:
(a) assure the timely availability of industrial resources to meet current national
defense requirements and
(b) provide a framework for rapid industrial expansion in case of a national
emergency.
The authority for DPAS, which is administered by the Commerce Department's Bureau
of Export Administration, extends from Title I of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as
amended (DPA). While the DPAS is designed to be largely self-executing, Special Priorities
Assistance (SPA) may be provided, including:
(a) timely delivery of items needed to fill priority rated defense contracts,
(b) granting priority rating authority, and (c) resolving production and delivery
conflicts between rated defense contracts.
See also: Defense Production Act.
Defense Production Act
Under authority of the Defense Production Act (DPA) of 1950 and related executive Order
12656, the Commerce Department is charged with identifying critical defense-related
industries, assessing their capability to meet peacetime and national security needs,
identifying current and potential production constraints, and proposing remedial actions
as appropriate.
Title I of the DPA requires that:
(a) contracts or orders relating to certain approved defense and energy programs be
accepted and performed on a preferential basis over all other contracts and orders and
(b) materials, facilities, and services be allocated in such a manner as to promote
approved programs.
See also: Defense Priorities and Allocation System.
Defense Technology Security Administration
DTSA is the DOD organization that reviews applications for the export of items that are
subject to the dual-use license controls of the Commerce Department and the munitions
controls of the Department of State. DTSA has about 130-to-140 staff, is located in the
Office of the Secretary, and administers DOD technology security policy so that the U.S.
is not technologically surprised on the battlefield. DTSA reviews applications involving
dual-use items for reasons of national security, proliferation cases and munitions
controls. See also: Foreign Disclosure and Technical Information System.
Defense Trade Advisory Group
In March 1992, the Department of State established the Defense Trade Advisory Group to
provide consultation and coordination with U.S. defense exporters. DTAG members are drawn
from the U.S. defense industry, associations, academia, and foundations, and include
technical and military experts, and the State Department and observers from other
government agencies. Members of the Committee are appointed by the Assistant Secretary of
State for Politico-Military Affairs. DTAG has three main working groups: - Policy Working
Group (PWG): which provides advice on broad issues of defense trade, technology transfer
and commercial arms sales in an effort to aid State in regulating commercial munitions
exports. - Regulatory Working Group (RWG): which provides advice on possible changes and
improvements to regulations and procedures related to defense exports of munitions
articles, technical data and software related to defense articles. - Technical Working
Group (TWG): which provides on technical issues related to the U.S. Munitions List.
Defense Trade Controls
DTC (formerly: the Office of Munitions Control, OMC) at State administers licenses for the
export of defense articles and services including arms, ammunition, and implements of war.
These items are listed in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the
U.S. Munitions List. DTC is involved in the commodity jurisdiction (CJ) process. The CJ
process is used to determine whether a particular item should be transferred to another
control list (primarily, whether an item may be subject to the ITAR or considered either
dual-use and subject to the Commodity Control List). See: International Traffic in Arms
Regulations.
Defense Trade Regulations
The Defense Trade Regulations (formerly known as the International Traffic in Arms
Regulations, ITAR) are administered by the State Department to control the export of
weapons and munitions.
Defense Trade Working Group
The Defense Trade Working Group (DTWG), consisting of officials from Commerce, Defense,
State and USTR, was established in FY 1990 to coordinate agency policies and resources in
areas concerned with defense expenditures. The group works with industry to identify ways
to target industry needs and increase the success of industry export efforts by minimizing
government impediments, streamlining procedures, and improve the availability of market
information. The DTWG includes three subgroups: - The Defense Exports Working Group,
chaired by Commerce, which helps implement Administration defense export policy and
enhances U.S. government support for U.S. defense exporters; - The European Defense
Cooperation Group, chaired by State, which coordinates interagency input to U.S.-NATO
International Staff for the NATO Council on National Armaments Directors (CNAD) study on
defense trade; and - The Technology Transfer and Third Party Reexport Group, chaired by
Defense, which works with industry to define a more proactive technology transfer regime
that could be implemented within the limits of U.S. national security and industrial
competitiveness interests.
Deferred payment credit
Type of letter of credit providing for payment some time after presentation of
shipping documents by exporter.
Deficit
In the balance of payments, or in any category of international transactions within
it, the deficit is the sum of debits minus the sum of credits, or the negative of the
surplus.
DEG
See Deutsche Finanzierungsgesellschaft fur Beteilgungen in
Entwicklungsl„ndern GmbH
DEIP
See Dairy Export Incentive Program
Delayering
Removing levels of middle management.
Delivered at Frontier
"Delivered at Frontier" means that the seller's obligations are fulfilled when
the goods have arrived at the frontier -- but before "the customs border" of the
country named in the sales contract. The term is primarily intended to apply to goods by
rail or road but is also used irrespective of the mode of transport.
Delivered/Duty Paid
While the term "Ex Works" signifies the seller's minimum obligation, the term
"Delivered Duty Paid", when followed by words naming the buyer's premises,
denotes the other extreme -- the seller's maximum obligation. The term "Delivered
Duty Paid" may be used irrespective of the mode of transport. If the parties wish
that the seller should clear the goods for import but that some of the cost payable upon
the import of the goods should be excluded -- such as value added tax (VAT) and/or other
similar taxes -- this should be made clear by adding words to this effect (e.g.,
"exclusive of VAT and/or taxes").
Delivery Instructions
Provides specific information to the inland carrier concerning the arrangement made by the
forwarder to deliver the merchandise to the particular pier or steamship line. Not to be
confused with Delivery Order which is used for import cargo.
Delivery Verification Certificate
The U.S. Customs Service defines a DVC as a form used to track imported merchandise from
the custody of the importer to the custody of a manufacturer and is used to substantiate a
manufacturing drawback claim. The DVC is also known as a Certificate of Delivery (Customs
Form 331). An export license may be issued with a requirement for delivery verification by
Customs in the receiving country. When delivery verification is required by a foreign
government for goods imported into the U.S., the U.S. Customs Service will certify a
delivery verification certificate (Form ITA-647). A U.S. export license may require
submission of a similar form from an importing country.
Demand curve
The graph of quantity demanded as a function of price, normally downward sloping,
straight or curved, and drawn with quantity on the horizontal axis and price on the
vertical axis. Demand curves for imports and for foreign exchange usually have the same
qualitative properties as demand curves for goods, but for somewhat different reasons.
Demand deposit
A bank deposit that can be withdrawn "on demand." The term usually refers
only to checking accounts, even though depositors in many other kinds of accounts may be
able to write checks and view their deposits as readily available.
Demand draft
See Sight draft.
Demand elasticity
Normally the price elasticity of demand. References to other elasticities of demand,
such as the income elasticity are normally explicit.
Demand price
The price at which a given quantity is demanded; the demand curve viewed from the
perspective of price as a function of quantity.
Demarche
Official discussion with another government carried out on instructions.
Demurrage
Excess time taken for loading or unloading a vessel, thus causing delay of scheduled
departure. Demurrage refers only to situations in which the charter or shipper, rather
than the vessel's operator, is at fault.
Deposit of Estimated Duties
This refers to antidumping duties which must be deposited upon entry of merchandise which
is the subject of an antidumping duty order for each manufacturer, producer or exporter
equal to the amount by which the foreign market value exceeds the United States price of
the merchandise.
Depreciation
A fall in the value of a country's currency on the exchange market, relative either to
a particular other currency or to a weighted average of other currencies. The currency is
said to depreciate. Opposite of "appreciation."
Derivatives
Derivatives are leveraged instruments that are linked to either specific financial
instruments or indicators (such as foreign currencies, government bonds, share price
indices, or interest rates) or to particular commodities (such as gold, sugar, or coffee)
that may be purchased or sold at a future date. Derivatives may also be linked to a future
exchange, according to contractual arrangement, of one asset for another. The instrument,
which is a contract, may be tradable and have a market value. Among derivative instruments
are options (on currencies, interest rates, commodities, or indices), traded financial
futures, warranties, and arrangements such as currency and interest rate swaps.
Destabilizing speculation
Speculation that increases the movements of the price in the market where the
speculation occurs. Movement may be defined by amplitude, frequency, or some other
measure.
Destination Control Statement
Exporters are required to place destination control statements on commercial invoices and
bills of lading for most export sales. These statements alert foreign recipients of goods
and documents that diversion contrary to U.S. law is prohibited. Destination control
statements are discussed in the Code of Federal Regulations (15 CFR 786.5 and
786.6).
Deutsche Finanzierungsgesellschaft fur Beteilgungen in
Entwicklungsl„ndern GmbH
DEG (English: German Financing Company for Investments in Developing Countries) promotes
direct private-sector investment in developing countries and provides advisory services in
planning and implementing jointly financed and managed companies. DEG operations emphasize
matching small and medium sized German companies with similar third world counterparts.
Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Technische Zusammenarbeit
The GTZ (English: German Agency for Technical Cooperation) plans, executes, and monitors
technical cooperation projects and programs in conjunction with partner organizations in
developing countries. The agency provides advisory services to German and other national
organizations, selects and trains experts, and releases project funds.
Devaluation
1. Depreciation.
2. A fall in the value of a currency that has been pegged, either because of an
announced reduction in the par value of the currency with the peg continuing, or because
the pegged rate is abandoned and the floating rate declines.
3. A fall in the value of a currency in terms of gold or silver, meaningful only
under some form of gold standard or silver standard.
Developed countries (DCs)
Industrialized countries.
Developing country
A country whose per capita income is low by world standards. Same as LDC. As usually
used, it does not necessarily connote that the country's income is rising.
Development Assistance
DA refers to specific economic assistance provided by the Agency for International
Development. DA includes "functional" accounts that emphasize long-term
development objectives for Agriculture, Rural Development and Nutrition; Population
Planning; Health; Child Survival Fund; AIDS Prevention and Control; Education and Human
Resources Development; Private Sector; Energy and Environment, and Science and Technology
Corporation, as well as the Development Fund for Africa, and other assistance -- the
Special Assistance Initiatives and Humanitarian and Technical Assistance for the former
Soviet republics.
Development Assistance Committee
The DAC, which consists of most members of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), coordinates member country aid policies and programs to Lesser
Developed Countries.
Development Banks
Banks that aid developing countries in economic development. They may lend or invest money
and encourage local ownership. They may be worldwide, regional, or national.
Differentiated product
1. A firm's product that is not identical to products of other firms in the same
industry. Contrasts with homogeneous product.
2. Sometimes applied to products produced by a country, even though there are many
firms within the country whose products are the same, if buyers distinguish products based
on country of origin. This is called the Armington assumption.
Diminishing returns
The fall in the marginal product of a factor or factors that eventually occurs as
input of that factor rises, holding the input of at least one other factor fixed,
according to the Law of Diminishing Returns.
Direct exporting
The exporting of goods and services by the firm that produces them.
Direct factor content
A measure of factor content that includes only the factors used in the last stage of
production, ignoring factors used in producing intermediate inputs. Contrasts with
direct-plus-indirect factor content.
Direct-plus-indirect factor content
A measure of factor content that includes factors used in producing intermediate
inputs, factors used in producing intermediate inputs to the intermediate inputs,
and so forth. That is, it includes all primary factors that contributed however indirectly
to production of the good. Contrasts with direct factor content.
Directly Unproductive Profit-Seeking Activities
Activities that have no direct productive purpose (neither increasing consumer utility
nor contributing to production of a good or service that would increase utility) and are
motivated by the desire to make profit, typically from market distortions created by
government policies. Examples are rent seeking and revenue seeking. Term coined by
Bhagwati (1982).
Dirty float
A currency that floats in value in terms of other currencies but is not free of government
intervention. Governments intervene to "smooth" or "manage"
fluctuations or to maintain desired exchange rates.
Direct Export Councils
Groups of volunteer businesspeople in every state that are appointed by the U.S.
Department of Commerce to assist exporters.
Direct Financing
Lease(Direct Lease)
A non-leveraged lease by a lessor (not a manufacturer
or dealer) in which the lease meets any of the definitional criteria of a capital lease,
plus certain additional criteria.
Dirty Float
Dirty float refers to a system in which the float of exchange rates is partially
determined by government intervention or restrictions to limit appreciation or
depreciation; sometimes known as managed float.
DISC
Domestic international sales corporation. Discrepancy - Letter of credit - When
documents presented do not conform to the letter of credit it is referred to as a
discrepancy.
Disclosure Meeting
An informal meeting at which ITA discloses to parties to the proceeding the methodology
used in determining the results of an antidumping investigation or administrative review.
A disclosure meeting is generally held promptly after the preliminary or final
determinations of an investigation or promptly after the preliminary or final results of a
review.
Discount rate
1. The rate, per year, at which future values are diminished to make them comparable
to values in the present. Can be either subjective (reflecting personal time preference)
or objective (a market interest rate).
2. The interest rate that the Fed charges commercial banks for very short-term
loans of reserves. One of the tools of monetary policy.
Discounting of bills
Where the payee of a term bill
requires payment immediately, a bank may discount the bill, i.e. make immediate payment,
deducting an amount for interest over the term of the bill.
Discrete time
The division of time into indivisible units. In economic models, these units represent
periods, such as days, quarters, or years.
Disequilibrium
1. Inequality of supply and demand.
2. A untenable state of an economic system, from which it may be expected to
change.
Dismissal of Petition
A determination made by the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration that
the petition does not properly allege the basis on which antidumping duties may be
imposed, does not contain information deemed reasonably available to the petitioner
supporting the allegations, or is not filed by an appropriate interested party. This
dismissal causes termination of the proceeding.
Disparity
Inequality, usually income disparity.
Dispatch
An amount paid by a vessel's operator to a charterer if loading or unloading is
completed in less time than stipulated in the charter party.
Disposable income
Income minus taxes. More accurately, income minus direct taxes plus transfer payments;
that is, the income available to be spent (including on imports) and saved.
Dispute settlement
In the GATT, the adjudication of disputes among parties. In the WTO this is done by
the dispute settlement mechanism.
Dispute settlement mechanism
The procedure by which the WTO settles disputes among members, primarily by means of a
three-person panel that hears the case and issues a report, subject to review by the
Appellate Body.
Distortion
Any departure from the ideal of perfect competition that interferes with economic
agents maximizing social welfare when they maximize their own. Includes taxes and
subsidies, tariffs and NTBs, externalities, incomplete information, and imperfect
competition.
Distribution License
The DL is a Special License that allows the holder to make multiple exports of authorized
commodities to foreign consignees who are approved in advance by the Bureau of Export
Administration. The procedure also authorizes approved foreign consignees to reexport
among themselves and to other approved countries. Applicants and consignees must establish
Internal Control Programs to ensure the proper distribution of items under the DL. Each
program must include comprehensive procedures for ensuring that the items exported will be
used only for legitmate end-uses.
Distributor
A foreign agent who sells for a supplier directly and maintains an inventory of the
supplier's products.
District Export Councils
DECs serve as a voluntary auxiliary of US&FCS district offices to support export
expansion activities. There are 51 DECs with 1500 members which help with workshops and
also provide counseling to less experienced exporters.
Diversionary Dumping
This occurs when foreign producers sell to a third country market at less than fair value
and the product is then further processed and shipped to another country.
DL
See Distribution License
Dock receipt
A dock receipt is used to transfer accountability when the export item is moved by
the domestic carrier to the port of embarkation and left with the international carrier
for export.
Dock
Statement
A receipt issued by an ocean carrier to
acknowledge the receipt of a shipment at the carrier's dock or warehouse facilities.
Documents Against Acceptance
Instructions given by a shipper to a bank indicating that documents transferring title to
goods should be delivered to the buyer (or drawee) only upon the buyer's acceptance
(signature on) of the attached draft.
Documentary collection
Documents Against Payment Stipulate that the exporter
ships goods to the importer without a letter of credit or another form of guaranteed
payment. The importer must sign a sight draft before receiving the necessary documents to
pick up the goods. Documents Against Acceptance (D/A) are instructions given by a shipper
to a bank stating that the documents transferring title to goods should be delivered to
the buyer only upon the signing of a time draft. In this manner an exporter extends credit
to the importer and agrees to accept payment at a readily determined future date. See:
Draft Bill of Exchange.
Documentary credit
Sometimes used as another name for a letter of credit.
Documentary draft
A draft to which documents are attached.
Documents against acceptance (D/A)
Instructions given by a shipper to a bank indicating that documents transferring
title to goods should be delivered to the buyer (or drawee) only upon the buyer's
acceptance of the attached draft.
Document of title
A transport document (usually a bill
of lading) which (when apprpriately made out) entitles the bearer to claim the goods from
the carrier.
Domestic
From or in one's own country. A domestic producer is one that produces inside the home
country. A domestic price is the price inside the home country. Opposite of
"foreign" or "world."
Domestic content requirement
A requirement that goods sold in a country contain a certain minimum of domestic value
added.
Domestic credit
Credit extended by a country's central bank to domestic borrowers, including the
government and commercial banks. In the United States, the largest component by far is the
Fed's holdings of U.S. government bonds, but it also makes some short-term loans to banks
to use as their reserves.
Domestic Exports
Exports of domestic merchandise include commodities which are grown, produced, or
manufactured in the United States, and commodities of foreign origin which have been
substantially changed in the United States, including U.S. Foreign Trade Zones, from the
form in which they were imported, or which have been enhanced in value by further
manufacture in the United States.
Domestication
Term used to indicate process in which a host government brings pressure to force a
foreign owner to turn over partial ownership to the host country government or host
country citizens.
Domestic International Sales Corporation
A type of U.S. corporation, authorized in 1971, with income primarily from exports.
Usually wholly owned U.S. subsidiaries, DISCs had special treatment in borowing or
taxation. A 1976 GATT case found against the U.S., which reached a compromise settlement
with the EC in 1981. DISC was replaced in 1984 by foreign sales corporations.
Domicile
The place where a draft or acceptance is made payable.
Downstream dumping
This occurs when foreign producers sell at below cost to a producer in its domestic
market, and the product is then further processed and shipped to another country.
DPAS
See Defense Priorities and Allocation System
Draft Bill of Exchange
A written, unconditional order for payment from one person (the drawer) to another (the
drawee). It directs the drawee to pay a specified sum of money, in a given currency, at a
specific date to the drawer. A Sight Draft calls for immediate payment (on sight) while a
Time Draft calls for payments at a readily determined future date.
Drawback
Drawback is a rebate by a government, in whole or in part, of customs duties assessed
on imported merchandise that is subsequently exported. Drawback regulations and procedures
vary among countries.
Drawback System
The Drawback System, a part of Customs' Automated Commercial System, provides the means
for processing and tracking of drawback claims.
Drawee
The individual or firm on whom a draft is drawn and who owes the stated amount.
Compare Drawer. Also see Draft.
Drawer
The individual or firm that issues or signs a draft and thus stands to receive
payment of the stated amount from the drawee. Compare Drawee. Also see Draft.
DSM
Dispute settlement mechanism
DTC
See Defense Trade Controls
DTSA
See Defense Technology Security Administration
DTWG
See Defense Trade Working Group
Dual Pricing
The selling of identical products in different markets for different prices. This often
reflects dumping practices.
Dumping
The sale of a commodity in a foreign market at less than fair value. Dumping is
generally recognized as unfair because the practice can disrupt markets and injure
producers of competitive products in an importing country. Article VI of the GATT permits
imposition of antidumping duties equal to the difference between the price sought in the
importing country and the normal value of the product in the exporting country. With
price-to-price dumping, the foreign producer can use its sales in the high-priced market
(usually the home market) to subsidize its sales in the low-priced export market. The
price difference is often due to protection in the high-priced market. Price-cost dumping
indicates that the foreign supplier has a special advantage. Sustained sales below cost
are normally possible only if the sales are somehow subsidized.
Dumping margin
The amount by which the imported merchandise is sold in the United States below the
home market or third country price or the constructed value (that is, at less than its
"fair value"). For example, if the U.S. "purchase price" is $200 and
the fair value is $220, the dumping margin is $20. This margin is expressed as a
percentage of the United States price. In this example, the margin is 10 percent.
Duopoly
An oligopoly with two firms
Dutch disease
The adverse effect on a country's other industries that occurs when one industry
substantially expands its exports, causing a real appreciation of the country's currency.
Named after the effects of natural gas discoveries in the Netherlands, and most commonly
applied to effects of exports in natural resource extractive industries on manufacturing.
Dutiable imports
Imports on which a positive duty, or tariff, is levied. (The term seems like it ought
to include imports on which the duty is zero but which a government is somehow free, or
able, to levy a positive duty. That does not seem to be the way the term is used,
however.)
Duty
A tax imposed on imports by the customs authority of a country. Duties are generally
based on the value of the goods (ad valorem duties), some other factors such as weight or
quantity (specific duties), or a combination of value and other factors (compound duties).
Duty-free
Without tariff, usually applied to imports on which normally a tariff would be
charged, but that for some reason are exempt. Travelers, for example, may be permitted to
import a certain amount duty-free.
Dynamic Asian Economies
The DAEs is a collective reference, currently comprising six Asian countries: Hong Kong,
Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand.
Dynamic gains from trade
The hoped-for benefits from trade that accrue over time, in addition to the conventional
static gains from trade of trade theory. Sources of these gains are not well understood or
documented, although there exist a variety of possible theoretical reasons for them and
some empirical evidence that countries have benefited more than the static gains alone
would suggest.
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