WTO calls for end to EU duties on Chinese screws

[ao333]

The European Union (EU) has been told to stop levying import duties on Chinese screws, nuts and bolts.

The ruling by the World Trade Organization (WTO) marks the first time the trade body has ruled against the EU in favour of China.

The panel of WTO experts said the EU's import duties broke trade rules and said they must be revised.

According to the organisation's rules, both sides now have 60 days to appeal against the ruling.

The EU imposes duties on imports from countries such as China, Vietnam or Cuba, which it considers not to be market economies.

WTO rules allow for extra duties where imports are sold at less than they would cost in the country of origin, a process known as "dumping".

The Chinese claim stated that the EU had wrongly calculated the threshold, a complaint the WTO upheld.

"The... rulings make it clear that the EU's anti-dumping legislation and practice are discriminatory and inconsistent with WTO rules," China said in a statement.

However, the WTO did not uphold all the Chinese complaints.

China and the EU have been involved in an escalating trade dispute with China imposing its own tariffs on European products.

BBC News - WTO calls for end to EU duties on Chinese screws

Gratz

 

[CardSharp]

The doctrine of free trade is definitely benefiting China above other countries, but it was their idea.

 

[中国万岁-ProsperThroughCo-]

China wins duties case against EU

By Leslie Hook in Beijing and Joshua Chaffin in Brussels
Published: December 5 2010 23:01 | Last updated: December 5 2010 23:01
The World Trade Organisation handed China a victory in a dispute with the European Union, a ruling that reinforces China’s strategy of increasing its engagement with global bodies such as the WTO.

The ruling, released late on Friday, applies to the EU’s antidumping duties on Chinese steel fasteners such as screws and bolts, and finds that EU duties on these products contravene WTO regulation.

China’s ministry of commerce welcomed the ruling. “China urges the EU to respect the WTO ruling and quickly end the practices.”

John Clancy, speaking for Karel De Gucht, the European trade commissioner, called the ruling “mixed”. He acknowledged one EU practice was found inconsistent with trade law, but noted that both sides could appeal.

The complaint centred on the EU’s imposition of five-year duties on imports of Chinese iron and steel fasteners, worth about €575m ($769m), to level what it deemed unfair competition.

The WTO faulted EU calculations to determine whether the goods were being dumped at below the domestic cost incurred.

The EU has argued that it has the authority to make such calculations, which are based on statistics from other nations, because China does not qualify as a market economy.

Fredrik Erixon, director of the European Centre for International Political Economy, said the ruling – if upheld – could give the EU less flexibility in future trade complaints against China. “There is an interesting principle here,” Mr Erixon said.

China joined the WTO in 2001, and has played an increasingly high-profile role in WTO litigation in the past two years. As a source of low-cost manufacturing for the world, China has a lot to litigate about: during the last decade roughly a quarter of antidumping duties globally have been directed at Chinese exports.

Friday’s ruling is not the first time the WTO has ruled on China’s side – Beijing also won some cases regarding the US practice of “zeroing”, a method used to determine tariffs. But it is the first time that China has won a case against the European Union, and could have knock-on effects for EU antidumping tariffs in other arenas beyond fasteners.

Friday’s ruling confirmed an interim report from the panel suggesting that they would rule in China’s favour.

The case was first brought by China in July 2009, and both sides have 60 days to appeal the ruling. Third parties to the case include Brazil, India, Canada and the US.