Price Behavior of Products Under Import Relief

In response to a request, GAO commented on a staff study conducted by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Department of Labor, which considered the price behavior of products under import relief. In reviewing the paper, GAO did not attempt to verify Labor's statistics, but did question their accuracy and significance. GAO was not conducting any studies bearing on the subject matter of the Labor paper at the time of the study review. GAO expressed an interest in the Labor breathing spell hypothesis, that import relief causes domestic innovation, and singled out this suggestion for possible interagency examination. In the opinion of GAO, however, Labor has not established even a suggestive link among import relief, innovation, and price behavior. The Labor study posited such a relationship but failed to advance the argument beyond a mere assertion.