China, target of EU new anti-dumping rules. But chinese dumping continue lawfully

China target of EU new anti-dumping rules.

Chinese dumping continue lawfully.

During its plenary session in Strasbourg on November 15, the European Parliament passed new anti-dumping rules. (The Diplomat, December 01, 2017) This came as no surprise as the European Commission proposals for changes to anti-dumping and anti-subsidy regulations appeared almost a year earlier and were mutually agreed upon by the European Parliament and Council on October 3, 2017. As a next step, the Council will formally approve the new rules, which will enter into force by the time they will be published in the Official Journal of the EU. The European members’ primary target is to safeguard their producers from unfair trade practices with respect to the EU’s World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations.

According to the press release from the European Commission, the new legislation will introduce different ”trade defense instruments” in order to calculate dumping practices. In recent years, European industry has dealt with imported products being sold at prices below the cost of production (ie “dumped” prices), causing financial damage. The main modifications in the anti-dumping legislation framework are expected to improve transparency. Dumping is calculated by comparing the export price of the product in the EU with the domestic price in the country where it is produced. However, this method proved ineffective in pinpointing state interference, which distorts the European market. Especially in countries with regulated markets (RM), the authorities extensively control or subsidize exporting enterprises, directly affecting the prices of products. In these cases, new benchmarks for the costs and sale of products in countries with a similar economic development as the exporting country will be taken into consideration. The Commission will be in charge of preparing reports vis-a-vis each country’s market data. Moreover for the first time, the social and environmental standards in exported countries will be taken into account when deciding on anti-dumping measures.