EU plans complaint against Chinese steel duties

Trade relations between China and the EU look set to deteriorate even further. Following China's decision last week to probe imported European wines, and the EU decision to impose anti-dumping duties on Chinese solar panels, the European Commission NOW SAYS it will file a complaint with the World Trade Organization against Chinese duties on exported European steel tubes.

European Union Trade Commissioner Antonio Tajani said on Wednesday that the EU plans to lodge a complaint with the WTO against Chinese duties on steel tubes used in power plants. The EU complaint considers the duties on seamless stainless steel tubes to be retaliatory. The issue is the latest sign of an escalating trade row between the two.

In September 2011, China launched its anti-dumping investigation of seamless stainless steel tubes imported from the EU and Japan. In November 2012, the country's Ministry of Commerce ruled that it will impose between 9.2 percent to 14.4 percent of anti-dumping duties on the probed steel products for a period of 5 years.

A month later, Japan in turn filed a complaint against China at the WTO. The EU's filing is expected to come as early as Thursday or Friday.

Insiders in the meantime say that steel tubes imported from the EU and Japan are suspected to carry lower prices than domestic products. Experts consider that the tariffs are not retaliatory, but serve as self-protection for the domestic steel industry.

In the past, the WTO has often folded multiple trade lawsuits against a specific member's measures into one single case. The dispute settlement process can last for several years due to the complexity of cases and the length of the various appeals.