Brussels, 07/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - Some 138 trade defence measures were in force in 2012 against European exports to non-EU countries.
While highlighting its success in obtaining the removal of undue measures, the European Commission's tenth annual report on trade defence measures taken by non-EU countries against exports from the EU shows that its partners continue to launch new cases - sometimes by way of reprisals at EU action against the unfair practices of these same countries. The report was presented to the European Parliament at the end of April.
At the end of 2012, 138 trade defence measures against exports from the EU were applied - in other words, eight fewer than in 2011 but still 15 more than in 2010. The number of new measures that were imposed also decreased - from 36 in 2011 to 20 in 2012. By contrast, 37 new investigations targeting European products were initiated in non-EU countries in 2012 - as opposed to 33 in 2011.
Last year, the Commission stepped up its monitoring of trade defence measures take by non-EU countries in response to the growing complexity of cases and the appearance of new users of trade defence instruments. With 21 measures in force against European exports, India was the main user of these instruments in 2012 - ahead of the United States, the historical leader, with 18 measures in force, and China with 16 cases. However, it is Indonesia which launched the most new investigations.
The report also reviews action undertaken by the Commission to protect the rights of European exporters against the abusive use of trade defence instruments by non-EU countries. Although the WTO rules allow its members to have recourse to these instruments, their abusive application transforms them into protectionist tools. The Commission's follow-up actions range from techncial intervention in ongoing investigations to appealing to the WTO as a last resort, when the stakes are great and no other solution can be found.
In many cases, the Commission obtained postive results in 2012, including the WTO's condemnation of anti-dumping rights imposed by China on European exports of X-ray scanners (see EUROPE 10795). Another postive result was the WTO's condemnation of the USA's zeroing practice for calculating anti-dumping margins (see EUROPE 10548).
The Commission's action - sometimes in collaboration with other WTO members - has also strongly contributed to the end of several investigations without measures imposed against exports from the EU - such as that of Brazil on wine, that of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan on graphite electrodes, and that of Israel targeting food mixers.
Nevertheless, the Commission says that it is concerned by the continuation of several issues - mainly of a systemic nature. The Commission particularly denounces some Chinese investigations launched by way of reprisal, which it describes as “unacceptable”, as well as the high number of safeguard cases that are newly initiated “on a weak basis”, which it deems as “worrying”. (EH/transl.fl)