China urges EU not to abuse trade remedies

BEIJING - China's Ministry of Commerce on Monday repeated its calls for the European Union (EU) to avoid abusing trade remedy measures to disrupt bilateral trade, after the EU's highest court last week ruled in favor of a Chinese enterprise.

"For a long time, the European Commission has been abusing the discretionary power and mis-using relevant laws in its trade investigations, which have led to unjustified trade remedy measures," read a statement posted on the ministry's website.

The ministry said as an important member of the World Trade Organization, the EU should strictly observe trade rules.

The remarks came in response to a court ruling that rejected an appeal by the EU Council to impose anti-dumping duties on imports of the herbicide glyphosate produced by China's Zhejiang Xinan Chemical (Zhejiang Xinanchem) because of the Chinese government's minority stake in the company.

The ruling said the state's control over the general meeting of Xinanchem's shareholders did not automatically exclude the company from the benefit of market economy treatment (MET), marking a landmark victory for Chinese companies seeking MET in Europe.

The granting of MET to certain producers subject to an anti-dumping investigation is a commercially-significant status. Producers granted MET are not subjected to the discriminatory non-market economy regime that applies to exporters from some countries, such as China, whose market-economy status isn't acknowledged.