The European Commission on Jan. 11 set duties on bulb flats from Turkey and China, the Directorate-General for Trade announced. Bulb flats are steel products used to fortify ship hulls in passenger cruise ships and military vessels. The AD rate will be 23% for imports from China and 13.6% for imports from Turkey.
China last week launched an antidumping investigation on certain brandy imported from the EU after receiving a complaint from the China Liquor Industry Association. China’s Ministry of Commerce said its investigation will cover brandy imported as early as Jan. 1, 2019, through Sept. 30, 2023, and shipped in containers of less than 200 liters, according to an unofficial translation. The ministry said it’s accepting public comments for 20 days from Jan. 5. It’s expecting to complete the investigation before Jan. 5, 2025.
China objected to the EU’s launch of an antidumping investigation on Chinese biodiesel last week (see 2312200029), saying it “firmly opposes protectionist behavior that abuses trade remedy measures.” The country’s Ministry of Commerce said past EU trade remedy measures “have been repeatedly criticized" by trading partners, according to an unofficial translation of a Dec. 21 press conference transcript. The ministry said it “will pay close attention to the EU's follow-up actions.”
The European Commission on Dec. 20 opened an antidumping investigation on biodiesel from China following a complaint from EU biodiesel producers. Those producers submitted evidence of biodiesel imports from China coming in at "artificially low prices," the commission said, adding that the producers said the imports are "seriously harming their industry because they cannot compete with such low prices." The EU biodiesel industry is worth nearly $34 billion annually, the commission said.
The U.K. last week renewed the antidumping duties on certain aluminum road wheels from China for another five years. The 22.3% dumping rate for all overseas exporters will now run until Jan. 25, 2027. Cast aluminum road wheels may enter without the AD applied.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is temporarily adding six synthetic cannabinoids -- MDMB-4en-PINACA, 4F-MDMB-BUTICA, ADB-4en-PINACA, CUMYL-PEGACLONE, 5F-EDMB-PICA and MMB-FUBICA -- to Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, it said in a temporary scheduling order. The listing takes effect Dec. 12, and will be in effect for up to three years.
The European Commission on Nov. 28 imposed provisional antidumping duties on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic product imports from China. The duties will range from 6.6% to 24.2%, and companies not given a specific rate will face the 24.2% dumping rate, the commission announced. It said the duties stem from an EU investigation provisionally finding that Chinese imports present "a threat of a clearly foreseeable and imminent injury to EU industry."
The French government didn't pressure the European Commission to launch the countervailing duty investigation on electric vehicle batteries from China announced in October (see 2310040012), said Martin Lukas, who heads the commission's trade defense directorate. Lukas, speaking on the commission’s Trade-Off podcast released Nov. 28, said the commission had been studying China’s increasing share of the EU’s EV battery market and said the investigation wasn’t brought because of urging from any single EU member state, despite some media reports.
The World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body on Nov. 27 agreed to Indonesia's request to set up a dispute panel to review the EU's countervailing duties on biodiesel from Indonesia, the WTO announced. The EU said it believes its duties "are fully justified, adding that it is confident its measures will be declared in line with WTO law," the WTO said. The U.S., the U.K., Norway, Russia, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, China, Canada, Argentina and Turkey reserved their third party rights to take part in the panel proceedings.
World Trade Organization committees could offer a path beyond the Dispute Settlement Body to settle trade-related issues, Baker McKenzie lawyers said in a Nov. 13 blog post. For instance, the Anti-Dumping Practices and Subsidies and Countervailing Measures committees offer a forum to settle "practical and strategic issues" faced by companies engaged in international trade, the post said.