EU launches trade investigation into Chinese tinplate

The European Commission (EC) has launched an investigation into Chinese tinplate to determine whether imports into the EU are being sold at excessively low prices, Reuters reports.

The EC initiated the anti-dumping investigation following a complaint from the European Steel Association (EUROFER). The investigation will take up to 14 months, with the possible imposition of interim tariffs in 7-8 months.

One of the lawsuit’s central allegations is that Chinese manufacturers benefit from distorted prices for raw materials, particularly hot-rolled flat products, which account for 60-70% of production costs and are subject to China’s export restrictions.

This investigation is the latest in a series of EU trade and subsidy investigations into Chinese exports and Chinese companies operating in Europe.

EUROFER welcomed the new EU anti-dumping investigation into Chinese tinplate.

“Chinese factories have been flooding the EU market with their overcapacity of tinplate at dumping prices for at least four years, putting enormous pressure on EU producers, forcing them to lower their prices regardless of cost developments,” said Axel Eggert, CEO the European Steel Association.

According to the association, the influx of cheap tinplate imports from China has already had serious consequences for EU manufacturers of this product. In addition to lower profitability, this has also led to a decline in production volumes, capacity utilization and market share. From 2021 to 2023, the bloc’s industry lost a quarter of its turnover, while the share of Chinese imports in the EU consumption market more than doubled over the same period.

In March 2024, the European Commission decided to maintain the current anti-dumping duties on imports of certain types of corrosion-resistant steel (CRS) products from China, in particular hot-dip galvanized coils (HDG), at 17.2-27.9% on suppliers.