Brussels, 14/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Union has recently taken or amended a certain number of protective trade measures which were mentioned in the Official Journal. These decisions are as follows:
1. The decisions cover the suspension of definitive anti-dumping duties on bed linen from Egypt, in light of the World Trade Organisation conclusions (WTO), which make the measures aimed at India no longer applicable in the same regulatory framework (see EUROPE 13/3/01). The revised calculation shows that no dumping exists for exports of the product concerned made by Pakistan and the proceeding should be terminated forthwith. The ruling appeared in O J L26 and was adopted by a simple majority, with Belgium, France, Spain, Italy and Portugal voting against.
2. The application of a permanent anti-dumping ruling on Chinese Molybdenum from 22%-5% in order to permanently tax the amounts that have been temporarily taxed over the last ten months, taking into account the scale of the dumping and impact on Community industry. The ruling is applicable on a national level insofar as the status of a market economy and individual treatment having benefited certain companies is withdrawn. European experts have observed that shortly after the application of the temporary ruling, 25 Chinese Molybdenum producers, effectively almost all of the national producers, formed a block aimed at bypassing European measures. The producers concerned were granted specific export allocations, which appear to have been determined by taking into account the level of their provisional anti-dumping duties. Thus, companies with low duty levels were allocated disproportionately high quotas. The company which had been granted MET and had the lowest duty (3,6%) was allocated an export quota in excess of its production capacity corresponding to more than a third of the entire quantity which the grouping intended to export to the Community (O J L35). These export restraints which were adopted under the auspices of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, in agreement with several State-owned companies, strongly suggests significant State influence. Sweden was against the decision to put higher duties on Chines exports over five years and Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Ireland and Finland abstained.
3. The application of definitive anti-dumping measures on imports from Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Libya, Lithuania, Romania and Ukraine. Those who have failed to comply will be liable over the next five years to duties of between EUR 7.81 and EUR 21.43 per ton. Dumping margins, for which the calculation is based on a comparison on the market economy in line with that of the United States are significant: Bulgarian companies (90.3%, Ukrainian (82.1%), Croatian (72%) and Belarus (67.3); for the others its is between 20% and 49%. Taking into account the scale of the impact on Community industry, the Union has deemed it necessary to make the temporary measures introduced in July into permanent duties (O J L17).
The European Commission also began a re-examination of the anti-dumping measures applicable to certain ring binder mechanisms. This procedure intends to check whether the claims of the two main European producers, Koloman Handler AG and Krause Ringbuchtechnik GmbH made on 24 January, that this will result in a continuation or recurrence of dumping and injury to Community industry (JO C21).