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The EU has imposed anti-dumping duties on Chinese language plywood imports, only a few days after Beijing tried to ease trade tensions between the 2.
The provisional levies of as much as 62.4 per cent observe a surge in imports of hardwood plywood over the previous three years that had broken home producers, the European Fee stated.
The Greenwood Consortium of EU producers, which introduced a grievance towards Chinese language rivals final 12 months, stated it welcomed the transfer however argued for “definitive duties to be even greater than these provisional ranges” when the fee makes a remaining choice later this 12 months.
Brussels has additionally taken the weird step of monitoring imports of softwood plywood, which isn’t topic to duties, after allegations that Chinese language exporters have been disguising hardwood merchandise in anticipation of the levies, which will probably be backdated to final December. The completely different classes of plywood rely upon the kind of timber used to make the engineered product.
“The alleged apply consisted of inserting very skinny outer layers of softwood veneer on prime of the hardwood plywood face veneer. Such apply makes the product fall beneath customs codes which aren’t topic to registration, with out altering its important traits,” the Fee stated.
“Consequently, to minimise the chance of circumvention, the Fee thought of it acceptable to watch such imports.” It warned it might start an anti-circumvention investigation, which might hit such imports.
EU business teams have lengthy complained that Chinese language exporters can dodge duties by barely altering merchandise or sending them by way of third international locations, and that Brussels is simply too sluggish to react.
The fee stated home plywood business gross sales, manufacturing and earnings all fell between 2021 and 2023. China accounted for nearly a 3rd of the EU plywood market in 2023, with €327mn in gross sales.
Chinese language imports stuffed a spot left by a ban on Russian and Belarusian plywood after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Moscow in 2022. The Fee warned in March that importers of birch plywood from China ought to examine that it was not wooden initially from Russia or Belarus.
The EU has continued with a gentle improve in commerce defence instances towards China because it imposed anti-subsidy duties of as much as 45 per cent on electric vehicles in October 2023. Final month it opened an investigation into automobile and truck tyres and restricted entry for Chinese language corporations to its medical system market.
“I feel the message to China is that they need to not take as a right the openness of the European market,” stated the EU’s lead commerce official for China, Maria Martin-Prat, at a convention on Friday.
“And I feel China has realised how we have now developed a complete vary of autonomous [defensive] measures, what we confer with as our device field, and the way we’re prepared to make use of these instruments.”
The EU has additionally pressed China to elevate export controls on uncommon earth magnets for civilian use, which has led to warnings from the automobile business that manufacturing strains might cease.
Beijing on Saturday introduced a fast-track licensing system for EU corporations, after a gathering between European commerce commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and Chinese language commerce minister Wang Wentao final week.
However Brussels stated merchandise for civilian use should be exempt. The Chinese language commerce ministry additionally stated it hoped for a negotiated resolution on electrical automobile tariffs, and hinted it might drop antidumping tariffs on EU bourbon imports imposed final 12 months in return for minimal value ensures from EU producers.
