|
Representatives from the European Commission, the Parliament and
the 28 member states agreed on a text late on Tuesday, ending
around four years of wrangling.
"Better late than never," said EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia
Malmstrom. "The EU stands for open and rules-based trade, but we
must ensure that others do not take advantage of our openness."
Under the reforms, which could come into force in March after
clearance by the parliament and EU member states, the Commission
would be able to impose provisional duties after seven or eight
months, versus nine at present.
It would also involve a change to the EU's "lesser duty rule".
The rule means duties are set at a level to remove the injury to
EU producers, rather than a higher rate required to push the
exporter's price to what is deemed fair and normal - known as
the "dumping margin".
Duties could in future be set at the full dumping margin rate if
a raw material or energy input representing at least 17 percent
of the cost of production is distorted, particularly under the
influence of the state.
Even if the lesser duty rule is applied, duties would have to
reflect a minimum profit margin of 6 percent as well costs
related to international labor and environment agreements, such
as the Paris climate accord, if they were not observed in the
exporting country.
The EU has already agreed on new anti-dumping rules single out
China for special attention to limit cheap imports.
In measures set to enter force later this month, the bloc will
treat all World Trade Organization members the same when
determining if countries are dumping products. However it will
make exceptions for market distortions, such as excessive state
intervention, an exception expected to cover many Chinese firms.
The Commission has said it will produce reports on major
countries where it suspects such distortions prevail. For the
time being, it will only produce one report - on China.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
