Brussels, 25/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 22 April, the European Commission announced the end of its public consultation on a possible change to the method of calculating anti-dumping duties on imports from China. A high number of responses to the consultation would seem to reflect strong mobilisation from the European steel sector.
In the thorny issue of whether the EU should grant China market economy status (MES) - an issue on which the EU will have to hold its breath until the end of the year - the question is to know whether, and how, the EU should deal with China as a market economy in the EU's anti-dumping investigations once certain arrangements in China's protocol of accession to the WTO expire in December 2016. The arrangements deal with how China is treated in its trade partners' anti-dumping investigations against it.
Between 2001 and 2016, these arrangements gave China's trade partners the right to use a beneficial method of calculation to prove the existence of dumping (by treating China as a non-market economy) and the right to set high anti-dumping duties which were therefore protective.
At the end of the Commission's consultation with stakeholders (which started on 10 February and ended on 20 April), it had received 5,273 responses from various organisations and from a few citizens (around 50). “A high number of replies reflects a very large level of mobilisation of the European steel sector organisations”, a Commission spokesperson told EUROPE.
The contributions where the Commission did not receive explicit objection will be published on the website of the Commission's DG Trade “soon”. The Commission will then publish a summary report in the weeks that follow.
“We now have a comprehensive basis that will allow us to substantiate our analysis of the economic and social impacts of the options under consideration (Ed: on whether or not to grant China MES). All options remain on the table and are being duly assessed in the framework of the full impact assessment the Commission has decided to conduct”, EUROPE's source stated.
Three options are on the table: (1) not to make any change in the EU's anti-dumping legislation once the WTO protocol arrangements expire - in other words, keeping China on the list of non-market economies; (2) to remove China from the list of non-market economies unconditionally; (3) to remove China from the list of non-market economies, but while introducing mitigation measures by strengthening the EU's anti-dumping arsenal.
The in-depth impact assessment prepared by the Commission will include an analysis per sector and per EU member state, highlighting the consequences for jobs.
A second discussion in the college of commissioners on granting China MES is currently planned for 20 July. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)