1st LD Writethru: EU announces new transparency tools for trade defense instruments

The European Commission announced on Thursday new transparency tools for trade defense instruments (TDIs) to facilitate communication with the involved stakeholders.

The move is part of the European Union (EU) executive arm's efforts to modernize certain elements of the EU's trade defense system amid the ongoing steel crisis.

On May 13, the Commission initiated an anti-subsidy investigation into imports of Chinese hot-rolled flat steel after receiving a complaint lodged by the European Steel Association (EUROFER).

Under the new transparency policy, the Commission will now systematically publish executive summaries of any requests for new investigation or review of existing anti-dumping or anti-subsidy measures to improve access to information on trade defense cases.

Moreover, the Commission will put in place a new online platform improving communication between stakeholders involved in the ongoing proceedings.

It will offer the parties involved in each particular procedure an instant online access to the entire non-confidential case-related file through the platform "TRON" (TRrade ONline).

"With these new tools to improve two-way communication, we hope for more contributions to help us better address the industry's legitimate concerns," an EU statement quoted EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom as saying.

It is a complementary to the Commission's recent adoption of a prior surveillance mechanism for import of steel products into the EU aiming to support the EU steel sector.

Based on the mechanism, imports of steel products into the EU will now require an import license as of May 21 and the system will be in place for four years.

Commenting on the anti-subsidy investigation launched by the EU on Friday last week into imports of Chinese hot-rolled flat steel, a Chinese commerce ministry official has said that the European Commission should follow World Trade Organization (WTO) rules in its anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese steel exports.

The Chinese official noted that the Chinese government has expressed concern over European Commission protectionism before, saying such moves don't help in tackling global steel overcapacity but hurt the sustainable development of the international steel industry. Enditem