EU slaps anti-dumping duty on China foil

SHANGHAI (Sept 25, 2009): The European Union will impose five-year anti-dumping tariffs on aluminium foil from three countries including China, and on Chinese seamless steel pipes, Chinese state media reported on Friday. The duties come ahead of what is expected to be a bruising fight over Chinese-and Vietnamese-made leather shoes this autumn, as European officials decide whether to extend for five years tariffs first imposed in 2006. They could also bolster Chinese President Hu Jintao's stance against protectionism, as he meets other world leaders at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Hu has already warned against a repeat of "safeguard" duties, that the United States enacted for the first time this month against Chinese-made tyres. For export-dependent China, buffeted by the drop in demand following the global economic crisis, keeping export markets open is vital to keeping jobs, especially at the factories that dominate the export sector. The five-year duties on Chinese aluminium firms are up to 30 percent, and follow provisional levies introduced six months ago. Brazilian and Armenian firms are also subject to the duties, which are as high as 17.6 percent. They will take effect after being published in the Official Journal by Oct. 8, the China Securities Journal and Xinhua news agency said, citing an EU decision. The EU had launched an investigation into sales of aluminium foil from the three nations in July 2008, after the European Association of Metals made a dumping complaint, the reports said. The duty on Chinese seamless steel pipes was set at 39.2 percent, the reports added. Beijing has named the bloc as one of the most frequent users of anti-dumping measures against China. Chinese trade officials see the battle against extending the shoes tariff as the biggest trade dispute after the tyres issue. China in July launched its first trade dispute against the EU at the World Trade Organisation, complaining that anti-dumping duties imposed on imported Chinese screws and bolts were discriminatory and protectionist. In calculating that the Chinese shoes were dumped, the EU compared them with shoes manufactured in Brazil, rather than a more equivalent source such as India or Indonesia, said Edwin Vermulst, a trade lawyer with Vermulst, Verhaeghe, Graafsma & Bronkers, who is advising the Chinese government on this dispute. About three-fifths of the shoes sold in Europe in 2006 were made in China, while another 10 percent came from Vietnam. - Reuters