European aluminium strongly oppose suspension of long-overdue anti-dumping duties

The voice of the European aluminium value chain, European Aluminium Association hails the European Commission’s final confirmation of the definitive anti-dumping duties required to hinder the impact of Chinese dumping of flat-rolled products (FRPs) on the EU market.

Correspondingly, European Aluminium strongly opposes the contradictory 9-month suspension of these duties officially announced by the European Commission on 11^th October 2021. European Aluminium is ready to follow all available avenues to combat the unjustified suspension of the long-overdue trade defence measures.

The European Commission’s Definitive Findings in the anti-dumping investigation into certain aluminium flat-rolled products (FRP, case AD668) clearly confirmed that China practices injurious dumping of aluminium FRPs on the EU market, causing significant material injury to EU producers. Definitive anti-dumping duties are set at 14% to 25% to raise China’s dumped prices to market-conformed prices. However, the duties, which were greenlighted by the EU Member States and set to be implemented on 12 October 2021, are now suspended for 9 months.

Setting a dangerous precedent for trade defence cases in other sectors, the suspension sends the wrong signal to both international trade partners and China regarding the EU’s commitment to fighting unfair trade practices.

Gerd Götz, Director General of European Aluminium commented: “The definitive anti-dumping duties set by the Commission are justified, balanced and long-overdue. China has been dumping underpriced and high-carbon aluminium on our market for many years, jeopardising the viability of our industry in the long run while compromising the EU’s Green Deal ambitions. The decision to suspend the definitive duties is illogical and goes against the assertive trade defence policy announced by the Commission. We urge the European Commission to annul the duty suspension and effectively leverage its trade defence tools to level the playing field for European aluminium producers.”

The suspension will have a devastating impact on the EU aluminium value chain, even beyond the suspension period. Tens of thousands of EU jobs and EU investments into decarbonisation and recycling are at risk. Besides the long-term economic blow, the suspension will give a carte blanche to China’s dumped high-carbon aluminium imports, while the European aluminium industry has proven to hold sufficient capacity to supply Europe’s aluminium demand with more sustainable aluminium.

“The suspension is the result of an inadequate, rushed 30-day investigation and contradicts the findings of the European Commission’s initial anti-dumping investigation, which confirmed the existence of material injury. We cannot accept that the EU will allow the proven injury to European aluminium producers to continue based on an unjustified suspension, so we are exploring all available options to fight it,” Götz concluded.