A Sunset Review — also called a Five-Year Review — is the mandatory periodic review conducted by the Commerce Department and the USITC to determine whether to continue or revoke an existing antidumping or countervailing duty order. The review is required by section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1675(c)), implementing WTO obligations under Article 11.3 of the AD Agreement.
The review must determine:
- Commerce — Whether revocation would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping or subsidization, and at what margin
- USITC — Whether revocation would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time
If both agencies make affirmative determinations, the order is continued for another five years. If either makes a negative determination, the order is revoked.
There are two procedural tracks:
- Expedited (no participation) — When no domestic interested party files a substantive response, Commerce makes its sunset determination on the existing record. Almost always affirmative.
- Full review — When interested parties participate, Commerce and USITC conduct full fact-gathering, including questionnaires, hearings, and verification. Timeline is typically 360–390 days.
In practice, the vast majority of orders are continued at sunset — only about 10–15% are revoked. Some orders against China have been in continuous effect through five or six sunset reviews, dating back to the 1990s.