The European Union is seeking defense against unfair trade practices – particularly with China,  with significance for fastener manufacturers and importers, according to Fastener + Fixing magazine.

On January 24, 2017, EU commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom “reiterated EU plans to introduce new ‘country neutral’ antidumping methodology,” F+F reported. 

“Yet China is far from being a market economy,” Malmstrom said. “Over-capacity in China remains a serious concern, particularly for steel.”

The EU is proposing a new approach to antidumping, which would examine the “economic reality in each country, when there are distortions like state intervention in the economy, massive subsidies and cost and prices not set by market forces. Being a market economy isn’t about whether or not you’re on a list in an Annex: But whether there is a level playing field and transparency; and whether governments are operators, rather than just regulators.”

At the time of F+F’s end of 2016 article, no changes had been implemented. 

On November 9, 2016, the EU proposed amending its basic antidumping and anti-subsidy regulations “to update the trade defense instruments to deal with the current realities such as significant market distortions, which exist in the economies of some of our trading partners.” 

The Commission proposes changing how dumping is calculated on imports from WTO members “whose economies are distorted because of continued state intervention.” 

The proposals include changes to the investigation of “subsidies provided by third country governments, which gave exporting producers an unfair advantage, causing damage to EU manufacturers.” Web: FastenerandFixing.com ©2017 GlobalFastenerNews.com and FastenerandFixing.com