European Communities — Definitive Anti-Dumping Measures On Certain Iron Or Steel Fasteners From Chin

On December 4, 2008, within the European Union, 15 members were in favor and 12 votes were against the adoption of imposing a five-year average of 80 percent anti-dumping duties on the screw and nut products from China. In 2009, the EU decided to impose anti-dumping duties of up to 87 percent for the next five years on fasteners imported from China and required Chinese exporters to prove that they meet with the “single duty” requirements when they responded to anti-dumping cases, bringing a heavy burden and unfair treatment to Chinese companies. On January 28, 2009, the Ministry of Commerce spokesman Yao Jian made a speech on the EU’s final decision regarding anti-dumping measures on China’s export of fasteners. Yao said the Chinese government and industries had expressed strong dissatisfaction and that there were many discrepancies in the European Union’s case filing, investigation and adjudication process with regard to WTO rules. He added that the EU anti-dumping practice, lacking fairness and transparency, leaned towards trade protection, which greatly hurt the legitimate rights of Chinese fastener enterprises. China resorted to the WTO to resolve the issue.

FINDINGS OF THE PANEL The WTO set up an expert panel on Oct 23, 2009 after China initiated the WTO case on July 31, 2009. On July 15, 2011, the WTO issued a final ruling on the case concluding that the section 5, Article 9 of the EU Anti-dumping Law against China was in violation of WTO rules; the anti-dumping measures taken against Chinese fastener by the European Union in January 2009 were contrary to the provisions of the WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement, and that the EU should withdraw the anti-dumping order. The WTO ruled the EU’s single duty requirements and practices are discriminatory and violated WTO rules.