European fiberglass producers have filed an anti-dumping complaint asking the European Commission to apply anti-dumping duties to production passing through the Belt and Road Initiative.
European fiberglass producers have presented an ‘antidumping’ complaint against Chinese manufacturers operating out of Egypt, claiming they benefit from unfair subsidies and calling for tariffs to be imposed on them, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
The case will be closely followed in the coming weeks, especially after the inauguration of Trump, who has threatened to impose heavy tariffs to Chinese goods, and European manufacturers fear corresponding increases in Chinese imports diverted to Europe via other Belt and Road Initiative routes.
The complaint follows a decision by the European Court of Justice last year, which found that the European Commission is authorized under EU law to consider that subsidies granted by the Government of China could be attributed to the Government of Egypt and therefore be subject to countervailing measures in an investigation into imports from Egypt.
“This research is crucial. These companies have been established in an economic zone which is equivalent to an extension of Chinese territory abroad, which allows them to avoid the anti-dumping measures adopted in 2014 against companies established in China,” Cedric Janssen, secretary general of the industrial body, told Euronews. Glass Fibre Europe: “As a result, China’s fiberglass is expanding both domestically and abroad, leading to an increase in underpriced imports into the European market.”
European manufacturers have been fighting Chinese imports for years
For more than a decade, European fiberglass manufacturers They fight against Chinese imports that they consider disloyal. In 2020, the Commission imposed anti-subsidy duties of 13.1% against imports from Chinese companies based in Egypt.
Appealed before European judges, these anti-subsidy measures They were confirmed on November 28, 2024 by the CJEU, which recognized cross-border subsidies as subsidies under European law, since Chinese companies operate in an economic zone, in Egypt, created by an agreement between the local government and China through the Belt and Road Initiative .
The Asian giant has invested almost 1,000 million euros through this initiative that crosses more than 150 countries and that provides for massive subsidies outside China for infrastructure, transportation, extraction of raw materials and relocation of industries and state-owned companies abroad.
“13.1% anti-subsidy duties not enough to stop the flow of imports. We call on the Commission to launch an anti-dumping investigation to impose additional measures on imports from Egypt,” said Laurent Ruessman, lawyer at Glass Fiber Europe.
Eight EU countries produce fiberglass
Currently, eight EU countries produce fiberglasswhich is used in a range of industries, including wind turbine blades and as a component of solar panels.
“We have a market of one million tons for European demand. And Egypt, that has no local markethas a capacity of 400,000 tons,” explained Cedric Janssen. These figures add to Chinese overcapacity, which is already equivalent to double European demand, Janssen added. “We see that they continue to expand their capacities and are increasingly aggressive.”
European fiberglass producers hope EU investigation conclude with a dumping margin of 25% on products imported from Egypt.
It is difficult to establish differences between export prices and local prices in Egypt, necessary to assess the extent of dumping, since Egypt has no national market. “This is essentially an export production,” said Laurent Ruessman. “Therefore, we have calculated the production costs and added a reasonable profit, as the European Commission does for cases where there are few or no domestic sales.”
A Commission spokesman declined to comment on “a possible complaint before starting“, since the complaints process is confidential.