3/25/2011 5:01:00 PM
NEWS BRIEFS
EU Appeals WTO Decision Favoring Chinese Fastener Exports
The European Union appealed the World Trade Organization’s determination that EU duties on fasteners from China break international trade rules in many cases and should be revised to reflect non-market economy treatment.
On December 3, 2010, the WTO criticized the way the European Union 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 WTO panel 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.
But the WTO panel reportedly rejected China’s claim that the EU “made unfair comparisons between high-end EU fasteners used in the car and aviation industries with low-grade Chinese screws and bolts sold in hardware shops.”
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.
The WTO has sixty days to respond to the EU’s appeal. ©2011 GlobalFastenerNews.com
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