Sen. Brown Urges European Parliament to Keep Non-Market AD Duty Methodology for China
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, urged the European Parliament to ensure that legislation continues to deem China a “non-market economy” for antidumping duty purposes, in a June 19 letter (here). In the correspondence to European Parliament International Trade Committee Chairman Bernd Lange and committee Rapporteur Salvatore Cicu, Brown also said any changes to EU law should put the burden of proof on exporting producers in non-market economies to justify the use of individual costs in AD cases. Requiring petitioning producers to justify non-market economy AD methodologies would weaken trade remedy laws, Brown said. “Perhaps most important,” Brown wrote, the EU and U.S. should make joint submissions in the non-market economy World Trade Organization cases brought by China, as a combined effort would ensure “no daylight between the EU and U.S. positions.”
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“There is no doubt that China’s economy remains state-controlled and that this state control has contributed to massive global market distortions,” the letter says. “The U.S. continues to rely upon its antidumping laws to address the impact of China’s nonmarket economy and is working to build a coalition of international trading partners, including the EU, to increase China’s compliance with its WTO obligations. It is imperative that any EU policy changes on nonmarket economy not undermine U.S. trade remedy statutes or these coordinated efforts among allies.” The Committee to Support U.S. Trade Laws offered support for Brown's efforts in an emailed statement. “It is crucial that the EU and the US stay together on this issue and inter-parliamentary communication and exchange is needed to support the excellent work being done by the Administration,” CSUSTL President Thomas Sneeringer said. Sneeringer also celebrated "that prospects for the right result improved" on June 20, "thanks to a favorable vote" by the European Parliament international trade committee (here).