According to the EU Composites Ind Assoc (EuCIA), the EU Commission is proposing definitive import duties of 13.8% on Chinese fiberglass products as of 17 March 2011 for a period of 5 years. Representatives of the EU27 Member States provisionally have already voted on the proposal for definitive anti-dumping duties on Chinese fiberglass. The Commission proposal was initially released for consultation Dec/2010, following the Commission Regulation 812/2010 imposing provisional import duties of 43.6% for a period of 6 months from 17/09/10. According to EuCIA, this level will still be harmful for the EU industry & a high number of major EU users of fiberglass & associations have expressed their concerns with regard to the investigation & have questioned the provisional tariffs & the whole investigation. In fact, a high number of Member States representatives abstained while only 4 Member States out of 27 voted in favour of imposing definitive import duties of 13.8% at the provisional vote. "It is surprising to see how the EU Executive body can pass its proposal through when only 4 countries support the duties in a Europe of 27 Member States," notes Alexandre Dangis, MD EuPC (EU Plastics Converters Assoc). "The impact of this case on many SMEs has clearly been underestimated & not understood properly by the large number of EU Member States that abstained. I call on these Member State, the EU Commission & the Council of Ministers to review the proposal once again & terminate the investigation without any anti-dumping measures. Time is also ripe to review the anti-dumping legal proceedings & the efficiency of the Trade Defence Instruments (TDI) to ensure that sectors with large SMEs are properly heard & defended when cases are affecting them."
