Brussels, 16/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - Beijing is urging Brussels to give up its trade defence probes relating to Chinese telecom products and the hefty taxes imposed on Chinese solar panels.
In reaction to the Commission's announcement on 15 May regarding the possible launch of an antidumping inquiry and an anti-subsidy probe against Chinese telecom products unless an amicable solution is found with China, the latter warns the EU of the dangers of there being a trade war.
The spokesman for the Chinese Trade Ministry, Shen Danyang, stressed the risk run by European telecommunications firms which enjoy a “much bigger” market share in China than Chinese companies enjoy in the EU. According to the Commission, Chinese exports of telecommunication products to the EU amount to one billion euro annually.
The Commission suspects the Huawei and ZTE groups of receiving Chinese public subsidies in the form of preferential rate credits. Ericsson of Sweden, Nokia Siemens of Finland and Alcatel-Lucent of France, that wish to step up their business in China, have not filed a complaint with the European Commission fearing possible reprisals. The Commission probe, which is to be launched of its own initiative, would aim at second, third and fourth generation telecom network operators (2G, 3G and 4G).
“We hope the EU will not take actions that do no good to either side”, warned Shen, promising that China will take “assertive” measures “to defend our lawful interests and rights” according to WTO rules and Chinese law, if the EU follows through with the probe. “Any consequences caused must be borne by the party who provoked the friction”, he warned.
Shen also denounced the EU project to impose antidumping taxes on Chinese solar panels, warning that this would “seriously damage” bilateral trade relations if it went ahead with the punitive solar taxes. “The abuse of trade remedy measures in a reckless and arbitrary manner will (…) do nothing for the solving of trade frictions and will also impede the progress of economic recovery and severely dampen confidence in recovery”, he stressed.
The Commission last week proposed to member states that they should impose heavy taxes (on average 47%) on exports of Chinese solar panels. The EU capitals must approve these provisional antidumping measures by end May pending completion of the probe by December. (EH/transl.jl)