The European Union (EU) should adapt its anti-dumping mechanism
to globalization, a top EU trade official said on Monday, citing
the recent case against Chinese energy-saving light bulbs.
Imposing punitive measures "is often both justified and right.
But if it is inhibiting European companies from pursuing rational
production strategies -- or as in the light bulbs case, flying in
the face of our stated policy on energy conservation and the
realities of production in Europe -- it can also be
counterproductive," EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson told a
conference on globalization in the Hague, the Netherlands.
The European Commission put forward a compromised proposal last
week for one-year delay in an end to the anti-dumping duties
imposed six years ago against low energy light bulbs made in
China.
The proposal was widely criticized by both environmentalists as
unjustified in the EU's fight against global warming, and by most
EU producers, who have their production based in China.
With increasing number of European companies now outsourcing
manufacturing to China for lower labor costs, they are liable to
the anti-dumping duties imposed by the EU, which makes it difficult
for the 27-nation bloc to define its overall interests.
Critics said the anti-dumping measures often hurt EU consumers
and those European companies with competitive edge thanks to
globalized production, while coddling those laggards.
As in the case of light bulbs, the Dutch electronics giant
Philips said it had to pay €20 million per year for the
anti-dumping duties since it has a large presence in China and
imports so many that it can hardly be classified as a European
producer.
In his first full public assessment of the recent case,
Mandelson said it again captured many of the complex problems of
adapting to economic globalization in Europe.
"We need to be careful to separate unfair trade from trade that
is simply very competitive," he said in the speech made available
to the media.
In an effort to gather momentum for an overhaul of the EU trade
defense instruments, including the most often-used anti-dumping
measures, the European Commission initiated a public consultation
last December.
As the commission was expected to publish its recommendation
based on the public consultation in the coming weeks, Mandelson
said the light bulbs debate emphasized the issues that need to be
addressed.
In his speech, Mandelson also called for a positive politics of
globalization, reminding his audience of the benefits globalization
has brought to the EU, including cheap imports from China.
"The reason why your clothes are more than one third cheaper now
than they were 10 years ago is called China ... the reason why
European exports are rising at eight percent a year is because we
are benefiting from the new markets that globalization is creating
in the growing emerging world," he said, adding Europe's embrace of
globalization has made the EU more prosperous than any society in
recorded history.
(Xinhua News Agency September 4, 2007)
