EU challenges China's anti-dumping duties on steel tubes in WTO

The European Union (EU) said on Thursday that it had lodged a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against Chinese duties imposed on imports of steel tubes from the EU.

"The EU today requested consultations with China in the WTO concerning Chinese anti-dumping duties imposed on imports of high-performance stainless steel seamless tubes (HP-SSST) from the EU," the European Commission said in a statement.

The EU said in the statement that it believed the anti-dumping duties are "incompatible with WTO law, both on procedural and on substantive grounds."

WTO consultations will give the EU and China the opportunity to find a negotiated solution, said the EU, adding that, "If the consultations are not successful, after 60 days the EU can ask the WTO to establish a panel to rule on the case."

China's Ministry of Commerce in November last year decided to impose five-year anti-dumping duties on HP-SSSTs imported from the EU and Japan, after finding that the two economies had been dumping the products in the Chinese market and substantially harming Chinese producers.