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Abstract
This paper reviews the role of national administered protection agencies, whose primary responsibility is the enforcement of national
trade remedy laws. After reviewing four recent cases of trade disputes between Canada and the United States, it is argued that the role of
national administered protection agencies should be changed. The growth of regional trading blocks, the increasing use of anti-dumping and
countervailing duty actions against fairly traded imports and the additional responsibilities assumed by the WTO in administering the
Agreement on Agriculture strongly suggest that all trade disputes should be taken to the WTO for settlement. The role of national
administered protection agencies should be changed to make them agents for trade liberalization. This would involve these agencies taking
on three primary functions: (i) as transparency agents; (ii) as investigatory agents; and (iii) as advocacy agents.