Development of Dumping in International Trade

The origin of the word ‘dump’ is uncertain. Its usage, however, by the early nineteenth century had come to mean the act of throwing down in a lump or mass, as with a load from a cart, and it was then a natural extension to apply the word to the disposal of refuse and to describe as a dumping ground a market for the disposal of surplus stock. By the beginning of this century ‘dumping’ was used in English-language trade literature to describe loosely a situation in which goods were sold cheaply in foreign markets and today the term is used internationally to signify the practice of price discrimination in international trade.