European Commission acts to protect EU industry from PET plastic dumping

PET plastic products from China will now be subject to duties ranging from 6.6% to 24.2%, depending on the exporting producer. These duties will be in place for a maximum period of six months, during which all interested parties can provide feedback, before the Commission, after consulting EU Member States, takes the final decision on the imposition of definitive (i.e. permanent) measures.

The duties are the result of an EU investigation which provisionally found that the dumping of Chinese imports presented a threat of a clearly foreseeable and imminent injury to EU industry. It showed that the influx of dumped Chinese imports at artificially low prices was undercutting EU industry’s prices, forcing the EU industry to lower its prices to such a low level that they were selling their products at a loss.

PET is used predominantly to produce plastic bottles and is fully recyclable. The impact of the duties on EU consumers of PET is expected to be minimal.

For more information

Anti-dumping duties on certain polyethylene terephthalate (‘PET’) from China 

EU Trade Defence Policy