F REIGN TRADE - 中国国际贸易促进委员会

Regional Trade & Investment
EUROPE
Sino-EU Trade War Unlikely
By Zhu Zijun
The European Union is not
expecting a trade war with
China, and will treat China’s
exports and investments under
the WTO rules, said the EU’s mission
to China at a press conference on
January 16.
“I am always puzzled by the reports
on trade war between the EU
and China, but I do not want to see it
become a reality,” said Markus Ederer,
the EU Ambassador to China, adding
that “It is not available for the EU to
have a trade war with China, since both
sides proceed under the WTO rules
and this is their right.”
In fact, “The proportion of trade
disputes between the EU and China is
actually very small and the Chinesemade
products involved in anti-dumping
or anti-subsidy cases make up less
than 1 percent of China’s exports to the
EU,” said Ederer.
In documents published in December
2012, the EU executive arm
said high anti-dumping and countervailing
duties should be imposed on
Chinese producers of organic coated
steel, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The European Commission’s antidumping
and anti-subsidy probes into
Chinese steel products are “unreasonable”
and will harm Chinese companies’
legal rights and interests, the Ministry
of Commerce (MOC) spokesman
Shen Danyang said at a regular press
conference.
Another case is that the EU in
early November of last year announced
that it would investigate alleged state
subsidies for Chinese solar panel manufacturers.
This came amid an existing
probe into allegations of “dumping”
such products in European markets.
“There is a case in terms of anti-dumping investigation into
China’s solar products. The case is ongoing under certain rules, and
the preliminary decision will be handed down in the first half of
this year,” said Ederer.
As for investigation into China’s telecoms, “There is concern
about China’s telecommunications industry in Brussels, but so far
there is no case,” he said.
Data from China’s General Administration of Customs
showed that Chinese exports were targeted by a total of 72 trade
investigations in 2012. Trade protectionism is prevalent globally
and the external environment for Chinese trade is worsening and
among the world’s major economies, Chinese exports were the most
targeted by trade protectionism, said Zheng Yuesheng, spokesman
for the General Administration of Customs.
“But as China has investigation into European exports, the
EU has investigations into exports from China, America and other
countries as well,” Ederer said.
Data showed that China’s exports to the EU reached $333.99
billion in 2012, a decline of 6.2 percent year-on-year. This makes
the United States surpass the EU that year to become China’s largest
export destination.
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