Commerce Ministry says bloc's moves on steel and truck tires have been wrongly imposed

The European Commission must stop using the "surrogate country" method in anti-dumping investigations into imports from China and immediately withdraw wrongly imposed penalties on China's steel, ceramic and photovoltaic industries, the Ministry of Commerce said on Aug 11.

Its comments follow anti-dumping duties of up to 28.5 percent imposed on Aug 9 by the EC on certain corrosion-resistant steels from China.

The EC is the European Union's executive arm. Surrogate country is a term used to describe countries found to have so-called market distortions.

The EC imposed the duties after an eight-month probe, and it claimed that Chinese corrosion-resistant steels benefited from unfair government subsidies.

The EC also announced on Aug 11 that it will launch an anti-dumping investigation into Chinese truck tire products.

Wang Hejun, head of the trade remedy and investigation bureau at the Ministry of Commerce, says China's truck tire prices dropped due to a fall in raw material prices in global markets over the past two years.

So European truck tire manufacturers' accusations that their Chinese counterparts benefited from State subsidies are unfounded and lack adequate proof, Wang says.

Earlier this year, the United States halted its investigation into China's truck tire product exports as it found they had caused no harm to its domestic manufacturers.

"The EU continued the use of the unfair and unreasonable surrogate country method in the investigation. It has resulted in artificially determined high anti-dumping duties on Chinese products and therefore seriously undermined Chinese companies' interests," says Wang.

The new EU import duties on corrosion-resistant steel will range from 17.2 percent to 28.5 percent, and will affect Shougang Group, Shagang Group, Hesteel Group and a number of Chinese companies.

"It was provisionally concluded that the imposition of measures would contribute to the recovery of the European Union industry by allowing price increases, enabling the sector as a whole to return to a profitable situation," the EC said in a statement.

Chinese manufacturers can challenge the EU decision by Sept 3.

Bai Ming, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, says that if the EU fulfills its obligations according to World Trade Organization rules and maintains its status as a leading advocate of free trade within the WTO, it would be a win-win for both sides. He says China and the EU share growth-related goals, such as a bilateral investment treaty and other treaties. These far outweigh the current dispute about anti-dumping cases, he adds.

Huo Jianguo, vice-president of the China Institute for WTO Studies, says it is easy for politicians in some countries to blame other countries for their problems, and to accuse other trade partners of destroying their industries or stealing jobs.

zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 08/18/2017 page29)