1/14/2011 10:34:00 AM
NEWS BRIEFS
EU & China Seek Joint Appeals Delay in WTO Fastener Ruling
The European Union and China are jointly seeking a deadline extension to appeal a World Trade Organization dispute panel ruling condemning EU duties on Chinese fasteners, Reuters reports.
The delay was intended by both parties to ease the WTO’s pressing appellate division workload.
Both the EU and China requested the deadline be pushed back to March 25, with neither side lodging an appeal before March 22, according to Reuters.
WTO rules call for appeals within 60 days of a ruling.
On December 3, the WTO panel determined that EU duties on fasteners from China break international trade rules in many cases and should be revised to reflect non-market economy treatment.
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. ©2011 GlobalFastenerNews.com
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