Commission welcomes agreement on new anti-dumping methodology

European Commission – Press release IP/17/3668

Strasbourg, 3 October 2017

Today, the negotiators of the European Parliament and the Council reached an agreement on the proposal adopted by the Commission in November 2016 to change the EU’s anti-dumping and anti-subsidy legislation.

These changes will enable Europe’s trade defence instruments to deal with current realities – notably overcapacities – in the international trading environment, while fully respecting the EU’s international obligations in the legal framework of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Following the meeting in Strasbourg, President Jean-Claude Juncker said: “Europe stands for open and fair trade, but as I have said time and again, we are not naïve free traders. That’s why we have to make sure that, while upholding the multilateral, rules-based trade system, our legislation allows us to ensure that our companies operate on a level playing field. This is not about any country in particular, simply about making sure that we have the means to take action against unfair competition and the dumping of products in the EU market that leads to the destruction of jobs. Our words have to be followed by decisive actions and this is the kind of action our companies and citizens expect from us. I commend the European Parliament and our governments for having lived up to these expectations.”

Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström said: “We believe that the changes agreed today to the legislation strengthen EU’s trade defence instruments and will ensure that our European industry will be well equipped to deal with the unfair competition they face from dumped and subsidised imports now and in the future. Having a new methodology in place for calculating dumping on imports from countries which have significant distortions in their economies is essential to address the realities of today’s international trading environment. The Commission has repeatedly stressed the importance of free, but fair, trade and the agreement today endorses that view. These negotiations have been tough at times and addressed some thorny issues but the speed with which this legislation was agreed is a testimony to our commitment that the EU must have effective tools to tackle unfair international trade.

With today’s successful outcome, the EU will have an anti-dumping methodology in place which will deal head-on, with the market distortions which may exist in exporting economies.”

The new legislation introduces a new methodology for calculating dumping margins for imports from third countries in case of significant market distortions, or a pervasive State’s influence on the economy. The rules are formulated in a country-neutral way and in full compliance with the EU’s WTO obligations.
The agreement also includes changes which strengthen the EU anti-subsidy legislation so that, in future cases, any new subsidies revealed in the course of an investigation can be investigated and
included in the final duties imposed.

The new rules will only apply to cases initiated after the legislation enters into force. The legislation also ensures a transition period during which all anti-dumping measures currently in place as well as ongoing investigations will remain subject to the existing legislation.

In determining distortions, several criteria will be considered, such as state policies and influence, the widespread presence of state-owned enterprises, discrimination in favour of domestic companies and the lack of independence of the financial sector. The Commission may draft reports for countries or sectors where it will identify distortions and the evidence collected in these reports will be available for future investigations. When filing complaints, the industry will be able to rely on such reports by the Commission to make their case concerning countries where distortions exist.

The legislation is expected to enter into force before the end of the year.

More information
EU Trade Defence

Press contacts:
Daniel ROSARIO (+ 32 2 295 61 85) daniel.rosario@ec.europa.eu

Kinga MALINOWSKA (+32 2 2 295 13 83) Kinga.MALINOWSKA@ec.europa.eu

Drive for digitalisation at SSCs just starting

The drive for digitalization at distributors is only starting and will be further stipulated by customer demands as well as intensified by big stockholders and mill-tied distribution, according to speakers and attendees at the “Stahlhandelstag,” organized by German stockholders association BDS.

“There will be more direct mill distribution because of digitalization,” said Heinz Juergen Buechner from Deustche Industriebank, adding mills would rather eye large buyers and not smaller buyers across regions. “SSCs will have to expand their digital activities to counter that,” he said.

Large distributors, such as Kloeckner, were likely to reshape the market, he said; online platforms, such as Alibaba or Amazon, were further intensifying competition, but likely mainly for small purchases.

Kloeckner CEO Gisbert Ruehl said “small buyers who buy a sheet here and there will possibly be satisfied with Amazon or Alibaba.” “But I don’t want to rule out that Kloeckner won’t be selling on Amazon or Alibaba,” said Ruehl.

The aim of Kloeckner is to provide an independent sales platform, where distributors can sell products either as “shop in shop” or in a marketplace where a price comparison between offers is possible. Kloeckner will nevertheless receive a margin on sales. “The margin for us will be smaller in comparison to Amazon, maybe 2%, 3%, 4%, it’s difficult to predict,” said Ruehl.

The large-scale distributor continues to research in spot market pricing and was working together with a Silicon Valley startup look at the topic of predictive sales and semantic matches. “Predictive sales means less net working capital,” he said.

Kloeckner is however not the only one providing a sales platform, and Ruehl thought there would possibly be a consolidation of platforms in the future. “There will be one platform that will assert itself, but there might be a consolidation and possibly one or two in the future. But there’s also only one Facebook or Amazon,” he said.

Iris Karsten from Karsten Stahlhandel expectd to save around €60,000 per year through digitalization at the company, highlighting mid-sized stockists had to embrace the development as well.

The oversaturatation of stockholders in the Rhine-Ruhr area was making it harder for smaller companies. “There are 76 other stockists in a 50-km radius from us,” she said. At the same time challenges — such as lack of skilled workers, government support and shortages in trucks — had increased, which already saw some stockists close down, she said. “I do expect an increase in insolvencies.”

Laura Varriale, PLATTS