In Commodity News 20/07/2016
The European Union launched a complaint against China Tuesday for failing to remove export duties on certain raw materials, which it says favor Chinese industry and violate commitments Beijing made when it entered the World Trade Organization 15 years ago.
The case is the third such legal action by the EU?following two successful ones in 2012 and 2014 on similar measures and adds to a continuing trade dispute between China and the 28-country bloc.
The EU’s complaint at the WTO focuses on export duties on raw materials including graphite, cobalt, copper, tin and lead.
The duties, the EU says, limit exports of these products for companies out of China, distorting the market and favoring Chinese industry at the expense of companies and consumers in the EU.
“We cannot sit on our hands seeing our producers and consumers being hit by unfair trading practices,” said Cecilia Malmströ m, the bloc’s trade chief.
“The past two WTO rulings on Chinese export restrictions have been crystal clear?these measures are against international trade rules,” she added.
The EU says these duties are also in violation of global trade rules and of the specific commitments China made to scrap them when it entered the WTO 15 years ago.
Formal consultations between the two sides at the WTO will be conducted in parallel to a similar procedure initiated by the U.S., the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said in a statement.
If a solution isn’t reached within 60 days, the EU may ask the WTO to set up a panel to rule on whether China’s measures are compatible with global trade rules.
The legal action against Beijing comes amid a continuing trade row between China and the EU, primarily focused on steel imports being sold at what the EU says are below-market price levels.
In recent months, the EU has opened investigations into allegations of unfair trade practices by Chinese manufacturers and slapping tariffs on different types of steel imports from China.
Source: Dow Jones
