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The EU has imposed anti-dumping duties on Chinese language plywood imports, just some days after Beijing tried to ease trade tensions between the 2.
The provisional levies of as much as 62.4 per cent observe a surge in imports of hardwood plywood over the previous three years that had broken home producers, the European Fee mentioned.
The Greenwood Consortium of EU producers, which introduced a criticism towards Chinese language rivals final 12 months, mentioned it welcomed the transfer however argued for “definitive duties to be even larger than these provisional ranges” when the fee makes a remaining choice later this 12 months.
Brussels has additionally taken the weird step of monitoring imports of softwood plywood, which isn’t topic to duties, after allegations that Chinese language exporters had been disguising hardwood merchandise in anticipation of the levies, which will likely be backdated to final December. The totally different classes of plywood depend upon the kind of timber used to make the engineered product.
“The alleged apply consisted of putting very skinny outer layers of softwood veneer on prime of the hardwood plywood face veneer. Such apply makes the product fall beneath customs codes which aren’t topic to registration, with out altering its important traits,” the Fee mentioned.
“Consequently, to minimise the chance of circumvention, the Fee thought-about it applicable to watch such imports.” It warned it might start an anti-circumvention investigation, which might hit such imports.
EU business teams have lengthy complained that Chinese language exporters can dodge duties by barely altering merchandise or sending them by way of third nations, and that Brussels is simply too sluggish to react.
The fee mentioned home plywood business gross sales, manufacturing and earnings all fell between 2021 and 2023. China accounted for nearly a 3rd of the EU plywood market in 2023, with €327mn in gross sales.
Chinese language imports crammed a niche left by a ban on Russian and Belarusian plywood after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Moscow in 2022. The Fee warned in March that importers of birch plywood from China ought to test that it was not wooden initially from Russia or Belarus.
The EU has continued with a gradual improve in commerce defence circumstances towards China because it imposed anti-subsidy duties of as much as 45 per cent on electric vehicles in October 2023. Final month it opened an investigation into automobile and truck tyres and restricted entry for Chinese language firms to its medical system market.
“I believe the message to China is that they need to not take with no consideration the openness of the European market,” mentioned the EU’s lead commerce official for China, Maria Martin-Prat, at a convention on Friday.
“And I believe China has realised how we’ve got developed an entire vary of autonomous [defensive] measures, what we seek advice from as our device field, and the way we’re prepared to make use of these instruments.”
The EU has additionally pressed China to carry export controls on uncommon earth magnets for civilian use, which has led to warnings from the automobile business that manufacturing traces might cease.
Beijing on Saturday introduced a fast-track licensing system for EU firms, after a gathering between European commerce commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and Chinese language commerce minister Wang Wentao final week.
However Brussels mentioned merchandise for civilian use should be exempt. The Chinese language commerce ministry additionally mentioned it hoped for a negotiated answer on electrical car tariffs, and hinted it might drop antidumping tariffs on EU bourbon imports imposed final 12 months in return for minimal worth ensures from EU producers.
