Anti-dumping suits, along with safeguards and countervailing measures, are tools for protecting domestic industries from surges of cheap foreign imports. Although the WTO strives to eliminate all trade barriers, it recognizes that nations require flexibility to adjust to economic shocks as multilateral agreements increasingly liberalize trade. Thus, these measures allow nations to temporarily protect their economies against fluctuations in trading patterns. Although anti-dumping, safeguards, and countervailing measures share an often uneasy relationship with the WTO’s core principles, many member nations consider them essential to fostering fair and free trade.