The European Union has approved new anti-dumping measures against Chinese makers of optical fibre cables. According to the notice published in the EU's Official Journal, imports of the cable from China will be subject to tariffs up to 44 percent.
The European Commission started last year an anti-dumping investigation into single-mode optical fibre cable imports from China into the EU. The investigation was prompted by a complaint from the industry group Europacable, which represents producers of fibre cable in the EU.
The industry group said imports of the Chinese cables into the EU have increased and are expected to grow further after the US imposed new tariffs on the products. EU producers have suffered from the lower prices of the Chinese products and are losing market share, the group said.
The Commission investigation confirmed that certain Chinese suppliers may be benefiting from unfair support from the Chinese state, allowing them to compete with cheaper prices compared to European rivals. In particular it singled out the FTT and ZTT groups and their various subsidiaries, which will be subject to tariffs of respectively 44.0 percent and 19.7 percent. Other cooperating companies may face tariffs of 31.2 percent, and all other companies 44.0 percent.
Europacable welcomed the new regulation and said additional anti-subsidy duties are expected to be added soon. The group said it and its members would "spare no effort to ensure that the EU remains a technological leader and that its industry is able to meet the challenges facing this strategically important yet highly competitive sector."
