The European Union imposed countervailing duties on aluminum converter foil from China, with duties of 8.6% to 18.2%, the European Commission said in a Dec. 22 notice. The duties specifically cover "aluminium converter foil of a thickness of less than 0,021 mm, not backed, not further worked than rolled, in rolls of a weight exceeding 10 kg" and cover July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020. Four products are excluded, and they include "Aluminium household foil of a thickness of not less than 0,008 mm and not more than 0,018 mm, not backed, not further worked than rolled, in rolls of a width not exceeding 650 mm and of a weight exceeding 10 kg."

The U.S. will not appeal a recent World Trade Organization dispute settlement body ruling which found that its countervailing duties on ripe olives from Spain violated WTO rules, the U.S. said at the Dec. 20 meeting of the DSB. A panel at the DSB found that the U.S. erred when finding that subsidies given to Spanish raw olive growers under the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy were specific to the olive growers, a finding that was inconsistent with measures in the WTO's Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (see 2111190028). The U.S., in its comments to the body, said that it will permit the report to be adopted despite expressing being "disappointed" with a few of the panel's findings.

The European Union is reopening an antidumping review into tartaric acid from China to comply with the European Court of Justice's Dec. 3 ruling, the European Commission said. The ruling concerned the commission's determination to find the normal value of tartaric acid in the review based on costs of production in Argentina, whereas in the initial investigation, the commission found normal value based on Argentinian domestic sales prices. The result was an increase in the antidumping duty for two exporting producers, Changmao Biochemical Engineering Co. and Ninghai Organic Chemical Factory, who saw their rates jump from 10.1% to 13.1% and 4.7% to 8.3%, respectively.

The European Union is imposing an antidumping duty on certain utility scale steel wind towers from China, the European Commission said in a Dec. 15 implementing regulation. The investigation was initiated following a complaint from the European Wind Tower Association, which alleged that these towers were harming the domestic European industry. After looking into the matter, the commission deemed this allegation is correct and that a corrective antidumping duty was warranted.

The European Union initiated a pair of anti-circumvention investigations into its antidumping and countervailing duty orders on certain woven and/or stitched glass fiber fabrics from China and Egypt, consigned from Turkey, the European Commission said. The investigation will cover certain woven and/or stitched glass fiber fabrics consigned from Turkey, whether declared as originating in Turkey or not. The investigations were initiated after TECH-FAB Europe requested them in November, alleging that assembly operations in Turkey substantially increased after the imposition of the orders.

The World Trade Organization published the agenda for the next meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body, set for Dec. 20. The agenda includes status reports by the U.S. on the implementation of recommendations adopted by the DSB on: antidumping measures on certain hot-rolled steel products from Japan; antidumping and countervailing measures on large residential washers from South Korea; certain methodologies and their application to antidumping proceedings involving China; and Section 110(5) of the U.S. Copyright Act.

The European Union initiated an antidumping investigation on ceramic tiles from India and Turkey, the European Commission said in a Dec. 13 notice. Specifically, the commission will look into "ceramic flags and paving, hearth or wall tiles; ceramic mosaic cubes and the like, whether or not on a backing; finishing ceramic," following an allegation from the European Ceramic Tile Manufacturers' Association that imports of the subject goods are harming the European industry. The investigation will cover exports from the two countries into the EU for the period July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and the United Kingdom's Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said they want to consult on steel and aluminum early next year, "with a view to combating global excess capacity and addressing outstanding concerns on US tariffs and UK rebalancing measures," according to a U.K. readout of the visit Dec. 8. It said that Trevelyan invited Raimondo to London for those further talks in January.

The European Union imposed a definitive antidumping duty on aluminum converter foil from China, the European Commission said Dec. 8. The duty applies to aluminum "converter foil of a thickness of less than 0,021 mm, not backed, not further worked than rolled, in rolls of a weight exceeding 10 kg" and includes exclusions for five products that are all various types of aluminum household foil. Rates will apply to Jiangsu Zhongji Lamination Materials Co. at 28.5%; Xiamen Xiashun Aluminium Foil Co., 15.4%; Yantai Donghai Aluminium Foil Co., 24.7%; and other cooperating companies listed in the Annex, 23.6%. All other companies will be assigned a 28.5% AD rate. Aluminum is an "important commodity on the EU market with a market value of 630 million Euro," European Commission said, serving the packaging and electric car battery industries, in particular. "The tariffs will help defend EU companies and workers in this sector: the imports of aluminium converter foil from China will no longer enjoy an unfair advantage over the Union industries and will compete on an equal grounding," the commission said.

The European Union will continue imposing antidumping duties on birch plywood from Russia after conducting a changed market conditions investigation, the European Commission said in a Dec. 6 regulation. After the commission imposed the provisional AD duty on the Russian birch plywood in June, several parties complained that a change of market conditions had occurred after the investigation period and that the imposition of the duties would not be justified. The commission said Dec. 3 that an inquiry found that while the EU industry had benefited from market changes, it had not benefited enough to warrant suspending the duties. The decision entered into force Dec. 7.