On August 29, 2007, the European Commission recommended an additional one-year anti-dumping duty on energy-saving light bulbs produced in China, which was automatically cancelled after expiration. As soon as this was done, it immediately attracted extensive criticism from all sides.
Since 2006, the EU has been trying to review its anti-dumping policy, and the China energy-saving light bulb case once again highlights the debate on anti-dumping policies within the EU.
In recent years, as more and more EU companies have shifted their production bases to developing countries such as China, where labor costs are lower, or have extended their production supply chains overseas, the EU has come to realize that its anti-dumping measures are very large. Disadvantages, the result is often "spoiled" in the EU's less competitive enterprises, and damage the interests of EU multinational companies, and "running out" of cheap goods.
Because of this, in December 2006, EU Trade Commissioner Mandelson presided over the publication of a Green Paper to solicit public opinions and conduct the first large-scale assessment of trade policy including anti-dumping in 10 years. The outside world believes that Mandelson’s move is to use the “public opinion†to promote the adjustment of the EU’s anti-dumping policy, so as to pay more attention to the interests of EU companies and EU consumers engaged in transnational production. However, the results of public consultation have not yet been released.
On the issue of China's energy-saving light bulbs, the defects of the EU anti-dumping policy have once again become the target of public criticism, and have been strongly criticized by EU importers and retailers, most energy-saving light bulb manufacturers and environmentalists.
At present, the major energy-saving bulb manufacturers in the EU, including Philips in the Netherlands, have factories in China to export their products to the EU to reduce costs. Most EU energy-saving light bulb manufacturers hope to suspend anti-dumping duties. Only a small number of companies such as OSRAM, which is owned by Siemens, have been actively lobbying to continue to impose anti-dumping duties on the grounds that “imported energy-saving light bulbs may threaten EU employmentâ€.
According to Philips estimates, the company lost 20 million euros a year due to the EU's anti-dumping duties on energy-saving light bulbs produced in China. Philips believes that the continued imposition of anti-dumping duties is only to protect the short-term interests of a certain company, and it is a retrogressive protectionist approach. The EU's consumer protection organizations also believe that the imposition of anti-dumping duties artificially raises the price of energy-saving light bulbs on the EU market and harms the interests of consumers.
On the issue of continuing anti-dumping duties on Chinese energy-saving light bulbs, the European Commission also faces an important responsibility, which is contrary to the EU's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy conservation. Earlier in 2007, the EU proposed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% from 1990 levels by 2020, while reducing energy consumption by 20%. Promoting energy-saving light bulbs and phasing out incandescent bulbs is one of the important measures. However, the EU's self-produced energy-saving light bulbs can only meet its 25% market demand, and the rest must rely on imports.
The EU has imposed anti-dumping duties on energy-saving light bulbs produced in China since 2001 for a period of five years. Just as the anti-dumping measures expired in July 2006, the EU launched a 15-month investigation. During the investigation, the original anti-dumping measures still apply. Although Mandelson has always advocated ending the anti-dumping measures, he has to compromise after pressure, and finally agreed to automatically cancel it after another one-year extension. It is reported that this is because OSRAM has received support from the European Commission's Commissioner for Enterprise and Industrial Affairs, Felhojgen, and the German government.
From this point of view, Mandelson still has a lot of resistance to the "big surgery" of the EU anti-dumping policy.
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