| Author (Corporate) | European Commission |
|---|---|
| Series Title | COM |
| Series Details | (2014) 294 final (27.05.14) |
| Publication Date | 27/05/2014 |
| Content Type | Policy-making, Report |
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Trade defence instruments (TDI) – anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguards – are important tools allowed under the WTO rules to remove economic damages caused by unfair trade practices or, in case of safeguards, provide a temporary relief from unforeseen and significant increase of imports. However, if not applied strictly in accordance with the WTO rules, they can become tools of protectionist policies that hamper world trade and economic development. Accordingly, while recognizing the right of third countries to make use of TDI, the Commission has defined the promotion of adequate standards and action against abusive use by third countries of these instruments against EU exporters as trade policy objectives helping to improve market access for EU exporters. In cases of serious breaches of WTO rules and lack of other means to solve the problems, bringing a case to WTO dispute settlement remains a possibility, but the Commission's preferred approach is to achieve the above-mentioned objectives through a comprehensive monitoring of the TDI activity of third countries and interventions within the framework of on-going investigations where WTO rules are not respected. The promotion of adequate standards include not only monitoring TDI activities of third countries, but also a constant scrutiny and improvement of the way the Commission itself conducts trade defence investigations and applies the measures. The EU is already a very prudent user of TDI, which is illustrated by the fact that such measures affect only a very small share of EU imports. In addition, because the EU legislation sets standards that are even more demanding than WTO rules, i.e., so-called ‘WTO pluses’, its investigations do not necessarily result in the application of measures and, in cases where measures are applied, their level is usually lower than measures imposed by other countries in similar cases. In recent years the Commission has also embarked on the process of modernization of its trade defence instruments with legislative changes and related documents scheduled for adoption in 2014. The Commission encourages third countries to also constantly analyse their TDI legislation and practice with the aim of improving them and ensuring their full compliance with the WTO rules. In 2013 the significant increase in the number of investigations opened and measures imposed against EU exports by third countries has required the Commission to reinforce its activities in this area. The additional pressure on its resources in this area has come from the increasing complexity of the cases, the appearance of new countries that have started to make use of trade defence instruments affecting EU exports and, in particular, the required active participation in third countries’ countervailing duty investigations concerning alleged EU subsidy schemes, e.g., China’s investigation on wine involving around 5000 EU wine exporters. This report describes the overall trends in 2013 in the use of TDI by third countries against EU exports and the activities that the Commission has carried out to address problems that it has identified. The annex provides a much more detailed country-by-country analysis shedding light on the trends of trade defence activity of the most important users of the instrument, systemic problems and developments concerning specific cases. |
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| Source Link | http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2014:294:FIN |
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| Subject Categories | Trade |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
