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The EU has imposed anti-dumping duties on Chinese language plywood imports, only a few days after Beijing tried to ease commerce tensions between the 2.
The provisional levies of as much as 62.4 per cent comply with 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 in opposition to Chinese language rivals final yr, mentioned it welcomed the transfer however argued for “definitive duties to be even larger than these provisional ranges” when the fee makes a ultimate resolution later this yr.
Brussels has additionally taken the bizarre 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 can 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 observe consisted of inserting very skinny outer layers of softwood veneer on high of the hardwood plywood face veneer. Such observe makes the product fall below customs codes which aren’t topic to registration, with out altering its important traits,” the Fee mentioned.
“Consequently, to minimise the danger of circumvention, the Fee thought-about it applicable to observe such imports.” It warned it may 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 international locations, and that Brussels is just 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 examine that it was not wooden initially from Russia or Belarus.
The EU has continued with a gentle improve in commerce defence circumstances in opposition to China because it imposed anti-subsidy duties of as much as 45 per cent on electrical autos in October 2023. Final month it opened an investigation into automobile and truck tyres and restricted entry for Chinese language corporations to its medical system market.
“I believe the message to China is that they need to not take as a right 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 now have 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 may cease.
Beijing on Saturday introduced a fast-track licensing system for EU corporations, 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 have to be exempt. The Chinese language commerce ministry additionally mentioned it hoped for a negotiated resolution on electrical car tariffs, and hinted it may drop antidumping tariffs on EU bourbon imports imposed final yr in return for minimal worth ensures from EU producers.
