The United States has officially listed 12 non-market economy (NME) countries, according to information from the Department of Commerce.

These nations are classified as such for the purposes of the Department of Commerce’s enforcement of U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty laws.

Therefore, the Department of Commerce currently considers all countries not listed below to be market economies for purposes of U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty laws.

The NME determination remains in effect unless and until it is revoked by the Commerce Department based on an in-depth analysis pursuant to the statutory criteria identified in section 771(18) of the Tariff Act of 1930.

The 12 nations are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, People’s Republic of China, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

D.3 of the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (USMCA), a claimant may submit a qualified investment dispute to arbitration on its own behalf or on behalf of an enterprise of the claimant that is a juridical person owned or controlled directly or indirectly by the claimant.

Non-market economy countries

Pursuant to Annex 14-D of the USMCA, a «claimant» is different from an «investor,» as the term «claimant» excludes an «investor that is owned or controlled by a person of a non-Party to the Annex that, as of the date of signature of this Agreement, the other Party to the Annex has determined is not a market economy for purposes of its trade remedy laws and with which neither Party has a free trade agreement.»

For the United States, the process for designating a non-market economy for purposes of its trade remedy laws is set forth in 19 U.S.C. 1677(18); a list of the 12 countries designated as non-market economies can be found at https://www.trade.gov/nme-countries-list.

On the other hand, Mexico does not have a list of non-market economies and lacks a mechanism to designate them.