photovoltaic products exported from China to the EU on July 25. On September 6,
the European Commission officially announced that this case had been accepted for
handling. On September 26, the EU ProSun Alliance led by SolarWorld presented
an anti-subsidy investigation application to the EU. 45 days later, the European
Commission decided to accept and handle this anti-subsidy investigation case.
Photovoltaic products exported from China to the EU accounted for 70 % of
China’s total output, while photovoltaic products exported from China to the USA
were equivalent to only 1/10 of those exported to the EU; therefore, if the EU
imposes penalty duties based on the result of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy
investigations, China’s photovoltaic industry will suffer a catastrophe. China
exported solar panels and modules worth 21 billion EUR to the EU in 2011,^27 as
estimated, this case alone accounted for 7 % of the EU’s imports from China in
2011.^28 The largest-ever trade friction in China-EU trade had kicked off.
Second, cases shifted from low-end products to products with high technological
content. Anti-dumping investigations launched by the EU were not limited to
low-end products such as textiles, footwear, etc. but shifted to electronic products
and new energy products; in addition, steel products again became the focus of
investigation (see Table3.3).
The EU launched anti-dumping investigations against organic coated steel from
China as early as December, 2011. On February 22, 2012, with an application from
Eurofer, the EU decided to initiate an anti-subsidy investigation against organic
coated steel from China. The European Commission released a disclosure paper
concerning anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations against organic coated
steel from China in late December, 2012, in which the European Commission
accused China of supporting Chinese organic coated steel manufacturers in
obtaining raw materials at prices lower than the market prices. Shen Danyang,
spokesperson of the MOFCOM, said on January 16, 2013, that the Chinese side had
expressed written defense opinions to the EU side demanding revocation of
Table 3.2 Number of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation cases newly established
by the EU
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
China 6 7 10 8 7
EU total 20 21 18 21 19
Proportion of cases involving China (%) 30 33 56 38 37
SourceStatistical data of the European Commission concerning anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and
special safeguard measures in 2012,http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2012/december/tradoc_
150133.pdf
(^27) Source:http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=829.
(^28) According to data released by Eurostat on March 16, 2012, the EU’s imports from China were
292.1 billion euros in 2011. EuroStat, news release, EuroIdicators, 44/2012, 16 March 2012.
84 C. Xin