Reuters: EU Files WTO Complaint Over Chinese Stainless Steel Duty
06/14/2013 - The European Union lodged a complaint at the World Trade Organization on Thursday against China's imposition of anti-dumping duties on imports of stainless steel tubes, six months after Japan filed a similar case, Reuters reports.
The complaint centers on high-quality steel products that China needs to build new power plants, crucial for its plans to upgrade and clean up its electricity infrastructure.
China's steel industry, by far the biggest in the world, found it could not produce the same products as cheaply as its Japanese and European rivals. Beijing suspected the imports were being priced unfairly and imposed anti-dumping tariffs.
"The EU believes the anti-dumping duties are incompatible with WTO law, both on procedural and on substantive grounds," the EU said in a statement. "The duties of 9.7 percent to 11.1 percent imposed on European products are significantly hampering access to the Chinese market…"
