(Bloomberg) -- The European Union hit China and Egypt with five-year tariffs on an industrial good used in everything from wind turbines to sports equipment, completing part of a closely watched trade case.
The duties as high as 99.7% punish Chinese and Egyptian exporters of glass fiber fabrics for allegedly selling them in the EU below cost, a practice known as dumping. The levies are 37.6% or 99.7% against China, depending on the company, and 20% against Egypt.
EU producers of glass fiber fabrics including Ahlstrom-Munksjo Oyj in Finland “clearly suffered material injury” as a result of dumped EU imports from China and Egypt, the European Commission, the bloc's Brussels-based executive arm, said on Monday in the Official Journal. The anti-dumping duties, the outcome of an inquiry begun in February 2019, will take effect on Tuesday.
The trade dispute is significant because of a parallel commission investigation into alleged market-distorting subsidies to Chinese and Egyptian exporters of glass fiber fabrics. In that context, the commission is weighing whether to target possible Chinese aid to an Egypt-based subsidiary of China Jushi Co.
EU Hits Egyptian Raw Material With Tariff Aimed at Chinese Firm
Along with a separate case covering glass-fiber reinforcements, this is the first time that alleged subsidies by China to Chinese companies based outside the country have fallen within the scope of EU inquires into trade-distorting aid affecting specific exported goods. To date, such EU probes have focused only on subsidies by the host government.
In both the glass fiber fabric and glass fiber reinforcement cases, the commission has its sights on Jushi Egypt for Fiberglass Industry SAE and has yet to rule on possible Chinese subsidies to the company. Jushi Egypt is located in the China-Egypt Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
