EC reviews expiry for duties on Chinese coated sheet

The European Commission has initiated expiry reviews for anti-dumping and countervailing measures on organic-coated sheet imports from China following a request from European steel federation, Eurofer, in December, the EC said Wednesday.

According to the EC’s Official Journal, Eurofer alleges the EU steel industry “has not yet fully recovered and remains vulnerable to continuation of injury should the measures be allowed to lapse.” The EC said Eurofer showed evidence that in absence of AD duties, imports would likely increase due to “unused capacity” in China and “the attractiveness of the [European] Union in terms of volume” and “the existence of trade defense measures in other third countries.”

The EU’s investigation will cover the period of January 1-December 31, 2017 to determine whether the measures will stay in place or be lifted. During the expiry review, the EU will analyze exports to the EU in the investigation period and consider whether subsidised exports would likely continue or recur if measures expire.

Duties currently in force against Chinese organic-coated sheet are 5.9-26.1% (according to company) for dumping and 13.7-44.7% for countervailing.

The EC has until March 2019 to decide. The measures remain in place until then. If the EC would not have initiated a review, the AD and countervailing duties would have expired March 16.

Laura Varriale, PLATTS