The "State of Play" of Antidumping Cases in the EU

On November 24, 2010, Karel De Gucht, EU Trade Commissioner, delivered remarks to the European Parliament on antidumping (AD) issues.  Mr. De Gucht is not my favorite trade official, but I respect his straightforward remarks on the "state of play" of AD matters in the EU.  Here are some highlights:

• "defence of EU production against international trade distortions should be considered as a necessary component of an open and fair trade strategy."
  
  Translation - EU will continue to use AD/CVD investigations to protect EU industries.
• "Trade defence instruments are there for good reasons. In the absence of

  international competition rules and of other rules associated with well functioning

  markets trade defence instruments are the only possible means of protecting our

  industry against unfairly traded goods. We seek to use these rules in the most

  efficient way for our industries."
  
  Translation - As long as WTO norms allow countries to use AD/CVD investigations to protect domestic industries the EU will continue to use these types of measures.
• "The international rules on trade defence are being renegotiated in the World Trade

  Organisation. The EU position there is clear: we want to maintain the effectiveness

  of our instruments while protecting our business against protectionist actions by

  others."
  
  Translation - When the EU imposes AD/CVD measures it is a permissible exercise of its rights under applicable WTO norms.  When other countries impose such measures against EU industries it may be protectionist.
• "regarding the use of trade defence instruments by third countries, we have
  
  
  As I noted here, exporters in developed countries are likely to face more AD/CVD measures in the short to medium term.
• "I would like to assure you that we closely follow trade defence actions by third countries and take action when necessary. Such action includes intense monitoring, effective support of affected EU exporters or even starting a dispute settlement procedure at the WTO.  In many cases the Commission's actions lead to the termination of the investigation without the imposition of measures. In other cases, these interventions often result in a lower measure for the EU exporters concerned."
  
  Translation -- EU exporters, we have your back.

Basically, his remarks boil down to - the EU will protect its domestic industries through continued use of AD/CVD measures and active engagement with third countries that seek to impose such measures against EU exporters.