EU agrees rules to protect against unfair trade

For four years, the EU has come to a compromise on provisions allowing 28 to impose high anti-dumping duties on products mainly from China. On Wednesday, EU institutions announced an agreement on this issue.

Proposals to strengthen trade defense instruments were presented by the European Commission in 2013. The Member States could not work out for a long time, because for three years a uniform position on these rules could not be developed. The reason was that steelmakers in Europe wanted to stick to the current low anti-dumping rates and allow the global market to operate freely, rather than charge high tariffs for protection.

In the end, the capitals reached an agreement in December 2016 that tries to combine both approaches. Since then, negotiations have been under way with the European Parliament. Their end on Tuesday night is a breakout and the announcement of a more assertive EU trade policy.

The lower duty principle stipulates that the EU applies an anti-dumping duty at the level of the dumping margin. The EU has imposed this restriction on itself as it does not go beyond the WTO commitments. Several EU countries that adhere to the principle of non-interference in free trade, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Estonia, have opposed the abandonment of lower rates.

Ultimately, the agreement stipulates that the principle of a lower fee will not disappear, but the EU in some cases will be able to adapt it to charging higher fees.