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EU Announces Anti-Dumping Duties on Chinese-Made Rebar
02/01/2016 - The European Commission is planning to impose anti-dumping duties of 9.2 and 13 percent on imports of Chinese-made, high-fatigue performance (HFP) rebar.
On 29 January, the commission ruled that Chinese imports of the product have caused material injury to producers such as Megasa Siderur in Spain and Riva Acier in France. The investigation arose from a complaint filed by EUROFER, the European Steel Association, on behalf of producers representing more than 25 percent of production.
In a statement, EUROFER said it welcomes the provisional anti-dumping measures. However, it questioned their effectiveness in actually deterring wider Chinese dumping, noting that the commission found that Chinese HFP rebar has been dumped on the European market by up to 66 percent.
“The provisional measures -- as low as 9 percent -- cannot remedy the massive injury caused by Chinese HFP rebar import surges, which have captured 46 percent of the EU market from zero in less than two years,” said EUROFER director general Axel Eggert in a statement.
Meanwhile, Gareth Stace, director of the U.K.’s steel trade association, UK Steel, told The (London) Telegraph that the provisional rates are a “slap in the face.”
“The commission’s decision to publish provisional duties at this very low level clearly shows that the scale of the crisis affecting the European steel sector has not yet fully registered with Brussels bureaucrats,” Stace said.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the decision likely will play into a broader debate over whether the EU should grant China “market economy” status under its ascension agreement into the World Trade Organization.
“Were (market economy status) to be granted to the country, it would be even harder for the EU to calculate deterrent anti-dumping tariffs on unfairly traded Chinese goods,” Eggert said in a statement.
In a statement, EUROFER said it welcomes the provisional anti-dumping measures. However, it questioned their effectiveness in actually deterring wider Chinese dumping, noting that the commission found that Chinese HFP rebar has been dumped on the European market by up to 66 percent.
“The provisional measures -- as low as 9 percent -- cannot remedy the massive injury caused by Chinese HFP rebar import surges, which have captured 46 percent of the EU market from zero in less than two years,” said EUROFER director general Axel Eggert in a statement.
Meanwhile, Gareth Stace, director of the U.K.’s steel trade association, UK Steel, told The (London) Telegraph that the provisional rates are a “slap in the face.”
“The commission’s decision to publish provisional duties at this very low level clearly shows that the scale of the crisis affecting the European steel sector has not yet fully registered with Brussels bureaucrats,” Stace said.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the decision likely will play into a broader debate over whether the EU should grant China “market economy” status under its ascension agreement into the World Trade Organization.
“Were (market economy status) to be granted to the country, it would be even harder for the EU to calculate deterrent anti-dumping tariffs on unfairly traded Chinese goods,” Eggert said in a statement.
