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Arnoud Willems

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EU: Anti-dumping measures to apply in more situations because Commission extends definition of “consigned from”

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In 2023, the EU applied anti-dumping or anti-subsidy duties (together “AD/AS duties”) on imports of 141 products from 20 countries. The EU regularly extends these duties to imports of these products from other countries to counter circumvention. As context, to see whether AD/AS duties apply, you need to look at the non-preferential origin of imported products. For example, EU AD/AS duties on Indonesian stainless steel apply on stainless steel with non-preferential origin Indonesia, regardless of…

EU and China: European Commission imposes provisional countervailing duties on electric vehicle imports from China

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On 12 June 2024, the European Commission proposed provisional countervailing duties for imports into the European Union (“EU”) of new battery electric vehicles designed for the transport of persons (“EVs”) originating from the People’s Republic of China. The pre-disclosure of the European Commission’s proposal is published here. This pre-disclosure follows from the anti-subsidy investigation concerning EVs from the People’s Republic of China. Find our previous blogpost on that investigation here. The products in the scope…

Sanctions and export controls week: Geopolitical disruption and global sanctions and export controls developments

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For the second week of our Annual Compliance Conference, we discussed key trade compliance issues impacting our clients globally. Specifically, we discussed the trade policy response of the US, EU and UK to ever increasing geopolitical disruption, global strategies for handling sanctions regulators and enforcement, and key global sanctions and export controls developments. Trade policy response to geopolitical disruption – China and beyond – Tuesday 7 May Speakers: Tristan Grimmer (Partner, London), Sylwia Lis (Partner,…

United States: Any Port in a Storm: USTR to Investigate Chinese Shipbuilding Subsidies

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On April 22, 2024, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced its initiation of a Section 301 investigation into China’s acts, policies and practices in the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors. The investigation is in response to a petition filed in March by five US labor unions alleging that China engages in unreasonable or discriminatory practices that provide unfair advantages in the maritime industries. The petition cited specific conduct alleged to target the maritime, logistics,…

Court of Justice of the EU allows Member States to impose significant penalties if customs duties are underpaid – even in cases of good faith

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In the Court of Justice of the EU (“CJEU”) judgment of 23 November 2023 in case C-653/22 J.P. Mali, the CJEU ruled on the EU principle of proportionality with respect to the imposition of penalties for underpayment of customs duties (including anti-dumping duties) in Member States. The case concerned Hungarian company J.P. Mali, which imported into Hungary bicycles and bicycle parts declared as originating in Taiwan. For context, both bicycles and bicycle parts originating in…

(Unintended) origin fraud and duty evasion: Beware of anti-circumvention investigations

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Companies importing goods into the EU should be aware of a recent uptick in investigations into alleged circumvention of EU anti-dumping and/or anti-subsidy duties, and, in particular, the implications of such investigations under customs law. For context, in August 2023, the European Commission initiated three circumvention investigations, covering imports of biodiesel consigned from China, plywood consigned from Kazakhstan and Türkiye, and stainless steel consigned from Taiwan, Türkiye and Vietnam. These investigations signal a return of…

Using the WTO Trade Remedies Committees as a Forum to Resolve Trade Frictions

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Few companies know all the opportunities the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) offers to resolve trade-related problems or frictions. The WTO’s functioning does not depend only on its Dispute Settlement Body (“DSB”). It has several committees that can be even more powerful than the DSB. Examples are the Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices (“AD Committee”) and the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (“SCM Committee”). This Blog explains how both offer a forum to resolve practical and…

Navigating Global Anti-Dumping Procedures: A Comparative Table of Anti-dumping Procedures in Key Jurisdictions

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In the realm of international trade, the anti-dumping instrument plays a crucial role in safeguarding domestic industries against unfair trading practices. The high number of anti-dumping investigations initiated around the world, as well as an increasingly broad product scope (such as touted cases on hydrogen or electric vehicles), mean that many internationally active companies will need to be aware of anti-dumping. While World Trade Organization law sets out the general framework for municipal anti-dumping rules,…

Efforts to Curtail the Global Race on Industrial Subsidies

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Background Discussions at the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) on key issues concerning the regulation of international trade are intensifying in the lead up to the 13th biennial meeting of the highest decision making organ of the organization — the Ministerial Conference — scheduled to take place from 26-29 February 2024 in Abu Dhabi (“MC13”). Several informal meetings are being held in Geneva to streamline the work programme for MC13. One such meeting, scheduled to take…

The WTO: a powerful but undervalued organization for customs valuation issues

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World Trade Organization (“WTO”) Members laid out several key principles for determining the customs value of imported goods in the 1995 Customs Valuation Agreement (“CV Agreement”) with the aim of ensuring that the value of Members’ tariff concessions would not be nullified or undermined. Nonetheless, the WTO is – incorrectly – seldomly considered as a relevant forum for addressing customs valuation issues. This blog post highlights two avenues at the WTO for dealing with customs…