The EU manufacturing industries very much welcomed the inter-institutional agreement in principle concluded between the Estonian Presidency of the EU Council and negotiators from the European Parliament and European Commission on Tuesday 3 October on the new methodology for calculating EU anti-dumping duties. This new methodology aims to respond to the unfair trade practices of third countries, headed by China, in which state interference at the level of the economy is significant.
The EU's new anti-dumping methodology aims in particular at settling the issue of how to deal with China in EU anti-dumping investigations, now that the arrangements on this in China's WTO accession protocol have expired (in December 2016 – see EUROPE 11780).
Aegis Europe, the association for EU manufacturing industries and flag-bearer of 30 industrial federations representing various sectors (ranging from traditional industries to renewables) hailed "the commitment of the three EU institutions to ensure that the new EU trade defence regime will be used effectively to combat the ever-growing dumping of products onto the EU market” which "resulted from massive and out of control subsidies, and overcapacities that in some industries, are as high as twice global demand".
The EU's new anti-dumping method "will resonate for decades to come, and will have a powerful impact on European jobs and growth", Aegis Europe states, underling the importance of good implementation, in practice, of these new rules, and saying that it is ready to cooperate closely with the European Commission on this.
"This agreement is important to ensure that European businesses are shielded sufficiently from dumping from countries that significantly distort markets (...) We expect the Commission to now demonstrate the workability and predictability of the implementation of this new methodology”, the European steel association Eurofer stated.
"The new 'standard' methodology means that the EU can take undistorted costs – for example, of raw materials and energy – from another market and apply them in the calculation of the dumping margin of the exporting country (...) The new methodology (...) must actually work in defending European jobs and industry against dumping from countries with significant distortions – as the US’ approach does", Eurofer adds, urging EU policy makers to reach agreement on the old trade defence instruments (TDI) modernisation file.
The European Aluminium association, which represents the entire value chain of the aluminium sector in the EU, hails "a decisive element" for the defence of the EU against unfair trade practices. "Aluminium is enjoying a growing demand from end-use sectors but global excess capacities have created enormous unbalances across worldwide markets. As there are systemic distortions in the Chinese aluminium industry, it is only fair that the new law focuses on these distortions to trigger the use of non-domestic costs for dumping calculation", the European Aluminium association states, welcoming the Commission’s commitment that the burden of proving these distortions will not fall on European producers.
The European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) hailed an agreement which responds to the problem of price manipulation for raw materials, which impacts European competitiveness. “We are an export-oriented industry and therefore rely on free and fair trade, based on internationally agreed trade rules. This new methodology will challenge unfair practices and help create a level playing field for European industries", CEFIC concluded.
The European employers' association BusinessEurope welcomed "that the EU has chosen to equip itself with robust trade defence instruments, overhauling its anti-dumping legislation while respecting WTO rules and maintaining the same level of protection for EU economic operators". "The new methodology ensures objectivity in determining market distortions on the basis of technical criteria and workability for the industry, which means no additional workload will be imposed on EU economic operators as compared to the current legislation", BusinessEurope stated. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)