OREANDA-NEWS   The investigation was launched during of an anti-dumping analysis of the supply of ammonium nitrate from Russia, according to a statement by the US Department of Commerce, published in the official publication of the US government's Federal Register.  

According to the department, the applicant provided intelligible evidence to “examine the question of whether Russia should continue to be viewed as a country with a market economy for the purposes of the anti-dumping duty law”. The United States refers to six mandatory criteria that a market economy country must quadrate. Among them are the degree of convertibility of the currency of a foreign state into the currency of other countries, as well as the degree to which wage rates in a foreign country are determined through free negotiations between workers and management, the degree of state ownership or control over the means of production. 

The status of a market economy is important for exporters as it makes it much more difficult to impose anti-dumping duties against them.

The European Union and the United States officially recognized Russia as a market economy in 2002. This status allows Russian firms to challenge the imposition of the US anti-dumping measures.