The European Commission and Beijing are still searching for a way to avoid upcoming EU countervailing duties on Chinese electric vehicles, the commission said, even after EU member states voted to approve the measures earlier this month (see 2410040013).

China this week renewed antidumping duties on imports of hydroiodic acid from the U.S. and Japan for five years after finding that lifting the tariffs could “damage” China's domestic industry, according to an unofficial translation of a Ministry of Commerce notice. The renewed AD measures, effective Oct. 16, include a 41.1% rate for Japanese companies and a 123.4% rate for American companies. China said the acid has various manufacturing uses, including for integrated circuits.

The U.K. on Oct. 8 revised its antidumping duties on ceramic tiles from China, revoking the duties for tiles where the largest surface equals or exceeds 0.36 meters squared "unless the differential relief on the largest surface exceeds" 3 millimeters. The U.K. also revoked duties for tiles with an "edge equal to or longer than 600mm, unless the differential relief on the largest surface exceeds 3mm." Another change adds "finishing ceramics" to the description of the covered goods, while "glazed and unglazed" will be removed from the description. The notice also extends the existing duty rates for another five years, until Nov. 24, 2027.

China will impose temporary antidumping duties on imports of brandy from the EU after preliminary findings showed the imports are threatening its domestic industry, according to an unofficial translation of an Oct. 8 Ministry of Commerce notice. Beginning Oct. 11, Importers of EU brandy must pay security deposits ranging from 30.6% to 39%, state-run news agency Xinhua reported. The announcement came less than a week after EU member states voted to approve new countervailing duties on Chinese electric vehicles (see 2410040013).

EU member states on Oct. 3 voted to approve new countervailing duties on Chinese electric vehicles (see 2408200020) despite lobbying from Beijing and opposition from some member states, including Germany (see 2410030028). The new duties, "including the definitive findings" of the EU's CVD probe, must be published in the Official Journal of the EU by Oct. 30, the European Commission said.

As EU member states prepare to vote this week on new tariffs for Chinese electric vehicles, a German trade official and auto industry representative said they believe the EU and China can still reach a “political” agreement to work through their issues and avoid the punitive duties, which they say would harm EU consumers and European car manufacturers that have factories in China.

LONDON -- Officials at a defense industry conference last week were complimentary of defense export control reforms recently announced by the U.S., Australia and the U.K., but they also said the three governments can do more to incentivize companies to make use of the reforms.

The EU officially filed dispute consultation requests at the World Trade Organization on Sept. 25 regarding China's decision to open an investigation on certain dairy products from the EU. The European Commission announced the move earlier this week, saying the probe marks a pattern of China opening trade defense measures "based on questionable allegations and insufficient evidence" (see 2409230014).

The European Commission will begin registering all imports of goods under antidumping or countervailing duty investigations, allowing for retroactive collection of AD/CVD if certain conditions are met, it announced Sept. 24. Prior to the move, imports were typically registered only after a "justified" request from the EU industry.

The European Commission on Sept. 23 filed a consultation request at the World Trade Organization on China's decision to open a countervailing duty investigation on certain dairy products from the EU, the commission announced. The challenge marks the first time the EU has contested a decision to initiate an investigation, the EU said.