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EU's New Anti-dumping Action to China Releases Trade Protection Signal

EU


EU's New Anti-dumping Action to China Releases Trade Protection Signal

  Xinhua reported that the EU had decided to impose a five-year high official anti-dumping duty on seamless steel pipes and aluminium foil from China, which quickly took a prominent place on major domestic websites on the 25th, triggering another round of domestic worries about the deterioration of the export environment of "Made in China".

  Despite previous commitments against trade protectionism, at the critical juncture of the current difficult recovery of the world economy and the struggle of Global trade in the recession, the EU initiated anti-dumping investigation and eventually imposed high tariffs only on the grounds of "threat of damage", which is extremely rare in the anti-dumping practice of WTO members. The protectionist message exposed deserves vigilance.

  The European Union decided on 24th to impose a five-year formal anti-dumping duty on seamless steel pipes and aluminium foil from China at rates of 39.2% and 30%, respectively.

  In response, the head of the Ministry of Commerce of China said that the EU has not officially released the above results, but China expressed concern about media reports. It is understood that the above decision will take effect from the date of publication in the official journals of the European Union. According to the regulations, the relevant journals will be published before October 8.

  Anti-dumping is the main trade remedy adopted by the EU to China. Since the first anti-dumping investigation launched by the EU to China in 1979, the EU has launched more than 140 anti-dumping investigations against China. It is one of the WTO members who initiated anti-dumping investigations against China.

  Relevant officials of the Fair Trade Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce of China pointed out that WTO anti-dumping agreements have strict provisions on the threat of damage, which should be based on facts rather than merely on allegations, speculations and minimal possibilities. The damage caused must also be clearly foreseeable and imminent.

  He said that it is extremely rare in the anti-dumping practices of the EU and WTO members to use the threat of damage criteria arbitrarily in the seamless steel pipe case for trade remedy investigation and implementation.

  According to data released by the European Commission, in the first half of 2009, the EU launched only two new anti-dumping investigations, all of which were directed at Chinese products.

  Since August, the EU has launched three anti-dumping investigations on sodium gluconate, aluminium alloy hub and polyester high strength yarn products imported from China to Europe. Relevant early warning information indicates that the EU industry is also preparing to launch a trade remedy survey on outdoor clothing, melamine and solar panels and other Chinese products.

  As the EU has a complete and complex anti-dumping review system, various forms of anti-dumping review, represented by sunset review, have been launched frequently for Chinese products. For example, since this year, China has launched a review of metal silicon and cyclamate products, and is preparing for a sunset review of glyphosate products.

  A set of data can illustrate the harm of anti-dumping review to China's exports: According to preliminary statistics, there are more than 50 anti-dumping measures still being implemented by the European Union against China, of which more than 10 are continuing through sunset review procedures, of which SiC cases in 1984 are still being implemented through the review process.

  These cases are only the tip of the iceberg in which China has suffered trade frictions. From developed countries such as EU and USA to developing countries such as India, Brazil and Argentina, from poultry products to toys, steel products, rubber products, automobile parts and components... In the recent undercurrent of Global trade protectionism, China has become a victim.

  Statistics from the Ministry of Commerce show that 17 countries and regions launched 79 trade relief surveys against China from January to August, involving more than 10 billion US dollars, up 16.2% and 121.2% respectively.

  One intriguing detail: Almost immediately after the final result of the seamless steel tube case was announced and the wrong signal was sent to the world again, European Commission President Barroso made a statement on the 24th of the 20th Group of Twenty Financial Summit in Pittsburgh to defend globalization and oppose trade protectionism.

  Against the backdrop of some countries'anti-protectionist promises at the previous two summits, it is expected that the Pittsburgh Summit will put the slogan into action.

  However, the way for Chinese products to go to sea seems doomed to be not smooth. According to the forecast released by the WTO in mid-July, the number of anti-dumping measures launched worldwide in 2009 will double that in 2008, possibly a year in history, due to the increase in anti-dumping measures due to the decline in global GDP.

  Faced with the fierce trade protection measures, the responsible person of the Ministry of Commerce said recently that the "four-body linkage" coordinating response mechanism, including the Ministry of Commerce of China, local governments, business associations and enterprises involved in the case, is being formed, which will cooperate with each other, take responsibility for each other and adopt a "multi-pronged" response strategy.