02/05/2019 (Agence Europe) – Russia and China once again attacked the EU’s new trade defence rules at a meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) held in Geneva on 1 May (see EUROPE 12036/15), reported a source close to the discussions who was consulted on Thursday, 2 May. More particularly, they dislike the concept of “significant distortions”, reflecting cases where prices or costs, including those of raw materials and energy, are not the result of free market forces. These two countries also criticise the alternative methodology, which would be applied by the EU once these distortions have been identified. According to the Russian representative, the information requested from exporters is much more demanding than the WTO allows. After China, Russia will be the subject of a European Commission report on these market distortions in a few months’ time. (HD)