EU targets Chinese plywood in latest defence of domestic industries

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The European Union has imposed duties to dump on Chinese plywood imports, just a few days after Beijing tried to reduce trade tensions between the two.

The European Commission said that the temporary fees of 62.4 percent follow an increase in solid wood plywood imports during the past three years that have harmed local producers.

“He welcomed this step but argued that” final duties are higher than these temporary levels “when the committee made a final decision later this year.

Brussels also took the extraordinary step of monitoring the imports of wooden plywood, which are not subject to duties, after allegations that the Chinese exporters were disguised in solid wood products in anticipation of fees, which will be re -raised to last December. The different categories of plywood depend on the type of wood used to make the engineering product.

The committee said: “The alleged practice consisted of placing very thin external layers of the soft wood shell on top of the solid plywood shell. This practice causes the product to decrease under the customs symbols that are not subject to registration, without changing its basic properties.”

“Thus, to reduce the risk of fraud, the committee considered it appropriate to monitor such imports.” He has warned that the anti -circuit investigation, which will collide with these imports, can start.

The European Union industry groups have long been complaining that Chinese exporters can avoid duties by changing or sending products across the third countries, and that Brussels is very slow to respond.

The committee said that the sales of the local plywood industry, production and profits, all decreased between 2021 and 2023. China formed nearly a third of the European Union’s plywood market in 2023, with sales of 327 million euros.

Chinese imports filled a gap left by a ban on Russian and steam plywood after the full invasion of Ukraine by Moscow in 2022. The committee warned in March that plywood importers of birch from China should be verified that the wood was not originally from Russia or Belarus.

The European Union has continued with a fixed increase in commercial defense issues against China since the imposition of the duties of the Aglawi control by up to 45 percent on electric cars in October 2023. Last month, it opened an investigation into car tires and trucks and access to Chinese companies to the medical devices market.

“I think China’s message is that they should not consider the openness of the European market,” said Maria Martin, the main trade official of the European Union in China.

“I think China realized how we have developed a full set of autonomy [defensive] Trainers, what we refer to as our tool box, and how we are ready to use these tools. “

The European Union also pressed China to raise export controls on the rare land magnet for civil use, which led to warnings of the auto industry that could stop production lines.

Beijing announced on Saturday a rapid licensing system for European Union companies, after a meeting between European Trade Commissioner Maroš šefčovič and Chinese Minister of Trade Wang Windo last week.

But Brussels said that the products for civil use should be exempt. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce also said that it hoped to obtain a solution that has been negotiated on the tariff of electric cars, and suggested that it may drop the anti -pumping tariffs on Bourbon imports in the European Union imposed last year in exchange for the minimum price guarantees of the European Union producers.