A number of steel products from the People's Republic of China will be more expensive to import into the European Union with effect from Saturday 8 October. Provisional anti-dumping duty of up to a rate of 73.7% has just been approved.
The decision was made by the European Commission by means of two implementing regulations adopted on Thursday 6 October and published the day after in the Official Journal of the EU (to enter into force 24 hours later). The first of these regulations (2006/1777) covers imports of certain heavy plates of alloy and non-alloy steel and the second concerns hot-rolled flat steel products, in non-alloy steel or other alloy steel (2006/1778).
These products, which are used most commonly in shipbuilding and construction, were sold in Europe at heavily dumped prices, according to the Commission's investigations, which were launched following complaints made by the European steel industry association (Eurofer). The Commission's decision, which was taken five weeks before the deadline laid down by the procedure expired, provoked an immediate reaction on the stock exchanges, on which shares in European steel companies climbed notably through the day on Friday.
The provisional anti-dumping duty rate applicable to the heavy plates was set at a range between 15.1% and 73.7%. It may be applied retroactively to imports since the month of August, but it is still up to the Commission to determine whether this option will be used. For the hot-rolled flat steel products, the rate will vary between 13.2% and 22.6%. The decision regarding these products was made preventatively on the basis of a genuine risk of damage to the European steel industry, according to the Commission. The entire raft of anti-dumping duty is in place for six months initially, until the investigations definitively end.
In its press release, the Commission welcomed the fact it had made full use of the trade defence instruments available to it. It reiterated that it had set in place a total of 37 anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures, 15 of which concerned products from China. In addition to the two measures just taken, the Commission is still carrying out ten other investigations into Chinese steel. It also took the opportunity to reiterate its calls upon the member states of the EU to support its 2013 proposal to modernise the trade defence instruments, as it argues that this will make it possible to impose higher anti-dumping duty rates. (Original in French by Jan Kordys)