European Union Antidumping Investigations Against China

Abstract

The European Union (EU) has become China's largest trade partner. Although China is the EU's second-largest trading partner and its largest source of imports, trade frictions between them have been increasing dramatically. In fact, China has become the major target of EU antidumping investigations in recent years. This paper attempts to identify the main features and determinants of EU antidumping investigations against China. EU antidumping policies and rules will be studied, then, based on the binomial probit, empirical analyses of factors behind the EU antidumping charges during 1998-2006 will be conducted. Since China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, EU antidumping charges against China have risen significantly relative to its other trade partners. Many more antidumping charges were made regarding the chemical and metal industries than any other industries. Products or industries which have previously been antidumping targets seem to have a greater chance of being reinvestigated. Policy implications for the Chinese government indicate (1) to control the amount of exports to the EU, (2) to adjust export composition by upgrading industrial structure and enhancing global competitiveness, and (3) to lobby EU member countries in antidumping cases.