China Lifts Anti-dumping Duty on European Stainless Steel Tubes
The People’s Republic of China (China) removed the additional duties for imports from the EU of high-precision stainless steel seamless tubes (HP-SSST) on 22 August 2016.
According to WTO rules, anti-dumping duties can only be imposed under strict conditions where injurious dumping occurs, i.e. when foreign products are sold below fair value and cause damage to industry in the importing country.
In its rulings of February and October 2015, the WTO agreed with the EU and Japan that these conditions were not met in case of HP-SSST from the EU and Japan sold in China. The WTO concluded that among other things China did not fully respect the prescribed WTO methods to calculate dumping margins and establish injury.
The removal of the anti-dumping duties is good news for EU producers of HP-SSST. The European Commission will continue to closely monitor the application of trade defence measures in China to ensure that they are only imposed when the WTO’s strict conditions are met.
Background
The dispute concerns certain high-performance seamless tubes of stainless steel produced in the EU and Japan mainly used in superheaters and reheaters of supercritical or ultra-supercritical boilers in power stations. China imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on those products in November 2012, following an EU investigation on similar products imported from China.
The WTO proceedings started in the end of 2012, initially between Japan and China. The EU joined the procedure in mid-2013. The reports of the panel and the Appellate Body were adopted by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body on 28 October 2015. China requested a reasonable period of time to comply which expired on 22 August 2016.
For further information:
EU wins a WTO dispute on Chinese anti-dumping duties
EU requests WTO Panel on Chinese Anti-Dumping duties on Steel Tubes
China — Measures Imposing Anti-Dumping Duties on High-Performance Stainless Steel Seamless Tubes (“HP-SSST”) from the European Union
Dispute settlement on DG Trade website