China asked World Trade Organization judges to rule on the legality of European Union anti-dumping duties on screws and bolts, the first time the Asian nation has asked the trade arbiter to rule on a complaint against the EU.
The EU decided in January to impose the five-year tariffs on imports of Chinese iron or steel fasteners valued at about 575 million euros ($849 million) in 2007. The 27-nation bloc said at the time that the levies would “prevent further distortions and restore fair competition.”
China lodged its initial complaint on July 31, saying EU rivals haven’t been sufficiently harmed to justify the trade protection. That kicked off a two-month period of consultations that “failed to lead to a satisfactory resolution of the matter,” China’s mission to the WTO said today in a statement from Geneva.
In the complaint, China said the EU’s conclusions following a probe into whether Chinese companies had sold the fasteners in Europe below cost -- a practice known as dumping -- were “neither impartial nor transparent.” China also said the EU infringed on the commercial interests of more than 1,700 Chinese producers.
China is embroiled in trade disputes with the EU and the U.S., the two biggest markets for Chinese products, amid concern that the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression will lead to a global slide into protectionism. China, the world’s second-largest exporter after Germany, filed a WTO complaint last month after President Barack Obama imposed duties on Chinese automobile tires.
‘Clear Evidence’
Lutz Guellner, a spokesman for EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton, said the duties comply with WTO rules and the EU’s decision to impose measures was based on “clear evidence that dumping of Chinese products has taken place” and was harming EU companies.
“China’s claim that the EU is not fulfilling its obligations under the WTO agreements is unfounded,” he said in a statement today from Brussels. “In all anti-dumping cases, the European Commission strictly follows the applicable EU rules which are in full compliance with the terms of the WTO Anti- Dumping Agreement. This is also the case for the measures on which China is now seeking a panel.”
Fasteners, used for everything from automobile parts to furniture, are made in the EU by companies such as Italy’s Fontana Luigi SpA. The duties stemmed from an inquiry opened by the EU in November 2007. China accounts for 60 percent of EU imports of the carbon steel fasteners, which also come from Taiwan, the U.S. and Japan.
本文转自：China Industry News
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