Paving the Way for Unfair Competition: The Imposition of EU Anti-Dumping Duties on Ceramic Tiles from China

The report identifies concerns with the EU anti-dumping instrument, as applied today, regardless of the fact that the investigation procedures and methods might be in line with the current regulation and practice. The report's arguments are based on the recent anti-dumping investigation – and imposition of anti-dumping measures – on imports of ceramic tiles from China, but the observations and conclusions from the analysis are valid for most EU anti-dumping investigations. The report observes that price dumping is evaluated differently depending on whether the product is manufactured in the EU or imported from third countries. What is considered to be price dumping when imported is considered normal competition for a product manufactured in the EU. This is due to the fact that spatial price differentiation within the EU is covered by competition rules, and that competition rules have higher requirements for market share and price undercutting than the anti-dumping legislation. The report, accordingly, advocates that the criteria for imposing anti-dumping duties should be harmonized to the EU competition rules in order to ensure fair competition on the EU market. In the absence of a reformed anti-dumping regulation, the anti-dumping measures will most likely only contribute to a distorted competition where the complaining EU manufacturing industry will be protected to the detriment of the consumers.