China launches anti-dumping probe into EU imports

China has launched an anti-dumping investigation against the EU

China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday that it would investigate whether the Chinese market was being flooded with cheap p-nitrotoluene from the EU. Local manufacturers, who had complained of “damage to production and business operations”, had pressed for the investigation to be carried out.

Maroš Šefčovič

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Beijing’s latest move comes in response to an investigation launched by the EU in September into imports of polyvinyl chloride from a number of countries, including China. The Chinese authorities reject claims that their manufacturers’ competitiveness is driven by state support and are threatening retaliatory measures against EU actions to restrict Chinese companies.

World Trade Organisation rules allow an importing country to impose additional tariffs, known as anti-dumping duties, if an investigation shows that cheap imports are causing harm to its own producers.

Brussels is increasingly resorting to this tool. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated in August that the EU had launched 30 trade defence investigations in the past year – almost three times the usual number – against a backdrop of a 45 per cent rise in imports from China over five years.

Šefčovič heads to Beijing

European Commissioner for Trade Maroš Šefčovič will visit Beijing on 8–9 October to co-chair a meeting of the EU–China Trade and Investment Council and meet with Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao.

Brussels is seeking assurances that China will limit exports to the EU and extend the temporary truce on rare-earth supplies, whilst the bloc’s trade deficit currently stands at €1 billion a day. Beijing has already warned that it will respond harshly to any new EU restrictions on Chinese companies or products.

In an exclusive interview with Euronews last month, Šefčovič described the upcoming negotiations as highly political and emphasised that they must yield concrete results. Otherwise, he warned, there would be “a strong political movement calling for tougher measures”.

This story was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence.The translation was also reviewed by the Logos Press editorial team.

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