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EU anti-dumping abuse harms both China, EU

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-17 15:21

The EU's taking hasty anti-dumping measures against Chinese companies is an irresponsible move that has abused trade defense rules. It is motivated by rising protectionism as the 27-nation bloc is in the worst recession since World War II.

Commenting on the EU's anti-dumping measures against China's seamless steel tubes, the Wall Street Journal said the move suggests that the EU "is growing more protectionist in the face of the economic downturn."

As early as April this year when the EU decided to impose definite anti-dumping duties on Chinese candles, World Bank President Robert Zoellick criticized the decision as one of the four typical anti-free trade moves after the G20 summit in London.

At the summit, leaders from world major economies, including EU countries, pledged to refrain from protectionism and stick to open trade amid the economic downturn.

The slide to beggar-thy-neighbor protectionism is counterproductive.

The EU's abuse of anti-dumping rules would harm both China and the EU. The probe against Chinese aluminum road wheels would not only hurt Chinese producers' exports to the EU, but also raise the costs of European carmakers, such as Audi and Volkswagen, which need Chinese supply of the auto part. It would by no means help crisis-hit European automobile industry to recover.

The EU's protectionist moves would also damage the authority of world trade rules and risk triggering a trade war. When global trade is already shrinking due to the financial and economic crisis, the last thing to do is to resort to protectionism, which would only further drag down world trade.

EU's slide to protectionism would undermine global efforts to seek a joint solution to the current crisis. History has proved that protectionism could protect nobody from the crisis, but only prolong the economic pains.

Related readings:  EU launches investigation of Chinese steel rope, cable  EU should resist protectionism temptation  China files WTO complaint on EU anti-dumping measures  China steel imports face 24% EU duties

Europeans should not forget that the Great Depression in the 1930s stemmed precisely from US protectionist policies, which later plunged the whole Western world into a deeper crisis.

The EU and China are each other's major trading partner. Thanks to efforts by both sides to keep their markets open, their bilateral trade and investment has witnessed tremendous growth. Protectionism is neither conducive to weathering the current economic slump, nor is it in the long-term interests of both sides.

From the London G20 summit in April to the EU-China summit in May, leaders of both sides had committed to free trade and non protectionism.

As the worlds' two major economies, the EU and China should resist the temptation of protectionism, join hands to tide over the crisis, and contribute to the harmonious and sustained growth of world trade and investment.

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