The EU imposes provisional anti-dumping duties on steel and iron products from China

The EU has decided to impose provisional anti-dumping duties on seamless pipes and tubes of iron and steel from China. This product is typically used in power plants, in construction, and in the oil and gas industry. The Commission’s investigations confirmed that the Chinese products had been sold in Europe at heavily dumped prices. To provide EU companies with necessary breathing space, the Commission imposed duties ranging between 43.5% and 81.1%. This should prevent damage to the European companies involved in the production of the steel tubes and pipes. The investigation was initiated on 13 May 2016 following a complaint submitted by the industry. The Commission will decide within the coming six months whether these measures would become definitive and apply for a period of five years. The EU currently has an unprecedented number of trade defence measures in place targeting unfair exports of steel products from third countries, with a total of 40 anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures, 18 of which on products originating from China. 14 more investigations concerning steel products are still ongoing, including three cases for which duties are being provisionally applied.