7/18/2011
HEADLINES
EU applies tariffs on Malaysian fasteners
The World Trade Organization’s Appellate Body ruled that European Union duties on fasteners from China break international trade rules in many cases and should be revised to reflect non-market economy treatment.
The WTO ruling criticized the way the EU assessed antidumping duties on fastener imports from China, affirming China’s complaint that the EU unfairly judged China as a non-market economy when it applied duties on fasteners in January 2009.
The Appellate Body, the WTO’s highest court, found that the EU discriminates against Chinese exporters compared to exporters from other countries. The decision could force the EU to set individual duties on companies instead of imposing a blanket duty for the whole country.
One trade official told Reuters that the ruling “would force a re-write of EU law, and until that happened the bloc would be ill-advised to bring more cases” based on the same criteria.
“It would be a bit silly to ignore what has happened. It would be a walk in the park for China.”
The ruling found that the EU used the wrong method to calculate the amount of alleged dumping and had shown it “impinged upon only 27 percent of EU production of such fasteners, not a high enough proportion to qualify.”
However, the Appellate Body’s report made room for aggregation — blanket claims against all producers in a given country — by upholding the principle that “a group of companies whose decision-making is subject to government influence” could be successfully targeted by an anti-dumping case.
“It’s possible still to consider China as one producer, like China Incorporated,” the trade official told Reuters.
The EU adopted 85% antidumping duties on certain fasteners from China in February 2009 after concluding that Chinese producers had flooded the market with fasteners at 30% to 50% below European prices.
China responded by placing five-year antidumping duties of up to 26% on steel fasteners imported from the European Union, affecting about EUR 140 million (US$240 million) worth of fasteners.
China also filed an official complaint on July 31, 2009, following through on its threat to challenge the duties imposed on screw and bolt exports totaling EUR 575 million (US$755 million) a year.
EU Applies Tariffs on Malaysian Fasteners
The EU placed 85% tariffs on fasteners imports from Malaysia after concluding its investigation into circumvention of antidumping tariffs on Chinese steel fasteners, Fastener+Fixing Magazine reports.
Only eight of 19 Malaysian exporters who applied for an exemption were granted one.
Imports from all other Malaysian companies will be subject to the 85% antidumping tariff applied to steel fasteners from China. That duty will be applied retrospectively from October 2010, forcing importers to pay back duties almost immediately.
©2011 GlobalFastenerNews.com
For the WTO’s full report, click HERE.
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