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“In a bid to defend the single market, the European Commission has decided […] to raise customs tariffs from 17.6 % to 58.8% on 55 articles of porcelain and ceramic tableware imported from China”, announces Les Echos. The business daily reports that the Brussels initiative has resulted from “a complaint filed by European producers on 31 January 2012” and that “the tariff increases are provisional: next May, if dumping is confirmed by further studies, the Commission will invite member states to vote on the prolongation of penalties for a five-year period”.
“Should we speak of an important and courageous decision?” as two French ministers have done, wonders the editorial of the Paris-based newspaper —
There is nothing exceptional about this decision, which is similar to a number of others that have recently been taken by the Commission. Brussels has opened two inquiries on solar panels, which play a much larger role in Europe’s trade deficit with China (more than 20 billion euros of imports last year). And it is planning to launch a further inquiry in the more prestigious and high-profile telecom equipment sector. Chinese authorities and the Chinese media have begun to show signs of irritation with this harder line, which is not necessarily a bad sign.
The new attitude in Brussels is not so much a result of the economic crisis in Europe but rather of the economic success of China. In their bid to sustain high rates of growth, Chinese authorities have turned a blind eye to a range of practices forbidden by the rules of international trade: in particular they have failed to ensure respect for intellectual property, and allowed producers to take advantage of regional subsidies and price dumping. Given that the world’s largest country is no longer a poor nation deserving of special treatment, we can naturally expect its largest trading partner, the European Union, to intervene on a case by case basis, with procedures that strictly respect the rules laid down by the World Trade Organisation, to ensure that business practices are compliant. However, it would be fanciful to believe that the the customs tariffs leveled as part of these procedures will save European industry.
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