Why is dumping bad?

Question

It seems if countries sell goods to the US at below cost, the US consumer benefits. With unemployment well below 5% in the US, it doesn't seem to be affecting people's ability to earn a living. Obviously, though, I am missing something. What is it that makes dumping so bad?

Answer 1

If the same goods are made in America, but at a higher price, people will not buy them. The American industry slowly vanishes, as we become dependent on foreign made goods. Once there is no industry in America, the foreign manufactures raise the prices. We slowly become a nation of consumers, with little or no industries.

Answer 2

From a consumer's standpoint, in the short term, dumping reduces the prices they pay for 'dumped' products.

In the longer term, though, dumping is a predatory practice that drives competitors out of the market. Companies with "deep pockets" who can absorb low (or negative) margins long enough to push other producers out of the marketplace then have much more leverage to set products at whatever levels the market will bear.

The additional consideration in todays "global econony" is that as low-cost labor markets entice production capacity out of the US, there is a growing dependency on those foreign producers that could become complicated as political conditions change in the future.