EU Council Breaks Deadlock On Anti-Dumping Trade Talks
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Exhibition Name: EU Council Breaks Deadlock On Anti-Dumping Trade Talks
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The mission heads of European Union member states finally agreed on December 13 to end a deadlock over how to take action on proposed updates of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy trade measures, saying the EU has to protect its interests, especially in the case of imported products that are being sold at unfairly low prices.

The European Council’s Permanent Representatives Committee, called Coreper, said it has agreed on the council's negotiating position on the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy (or countervailing) “trade defense instruments,” so that discussions on modernizing the measures with the council, the European Commission and the European Parliament can now move forward after years of inaction.

The proposed regulation includes: 

- A four week notice period of the imposition of provisional duties to provide increased 'transparency and predictability' (so called pre disclosure). 

- Authority for the European Commission to initiate investigations without an official request from industry when a threat of retaliation is deemed to exist. 

- A shorter investigation period. 

- The right for importers to be reimbursed duties collected during an expiry review in the event the review decides against continuing the trade defence measures. 

- The potential to apply higher duties in cases where there are raw material distortions and these raw materials, including energy, account for more than 27% of the cost of production in total and more than 7% taken individually. This would allow the non-application of the Lesser Duty Rule (LDR) whereby duties must not be higher than necessary to prevent injury. The imposition of higher duties would be based on a target profit and also be subject to a Union interest test. 

"This is a major breakthrough," Peter ?iga, Slovakia's minister in charge of trade and president of the council, said in a statement. "Our trade defense instruments have remained largely the same for over 15 years, but the situation on world markets has changed dramatically. Europe cannot be naïve and has to defend its interests, especially in the case of dumping. This is a crucial step toward a solid solution that would help EU producers cope with unfair competition and practices."

The discussions will be the first fundamental review of the EU's trade measures since 1995, according to the council. In April 2013, the European Commission offered a proposal to modernize the existing instruments to help EU producers, importers and users, but no definitive action was taken.

At a two-day meeting this October, the council called for “an urgent and balanced agreement on the comprehensive modernization of all trade defense instruments” by the end of 2016.

The agreement will build on the proposal presented by the commission in 2013, which aims at making Europe's trade measures more transparent, with faster procedures and more effective enforcement, according to the commission.

In exceptional cases, such as distortions in the cost of raw materials, the updated agreement will let the EU impose higher duties via limited suspension of the so-called “lesser duty” rule, which calls for the EU to impose duties below dumping margins if the lower duties are enough to remove injury to European industry.

European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström credited ?iga and the member states for being instrumental in reaching a compromise that broke the deadlock.

“This is a major step in adapting our legislation to today’s economic realities," Malmström said in a statement. “Europe needs to make sure that we have modern, state-of-the-art tools in place to deal with unfair trading practices when needed. The EU stands for free, rules-based trade and we must be able to address unfair subsidies and dumping with determination.”
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