The European Union has threatened to impose tariffs on screws and bolts from India and Malaysia, saying that EU producers may be victims of subsidies and price undercutting. The EU opened probes into whether Indian and Malaysian manufacturers of stainless steel fasteners receive trade-distorting government aid and sell the goods in the 27-nation bloc below cost, a practice known as dumping. In January, the EU imposed anti-dumping duties as high as 85% on steel fasteners from China. That case, which excludes fasteners made of stainless steel, prompted the Chinese government to file its first complaint against the EU at the World Trade Organization. The new investigations will determine whether EU producers of stainless steel fasteners have suffered “injury” as a result of any unfair Indian and Malaysian competition. The two inquiries stem from 30 June complaints by the European Industrial Fasteners Institute on behalf of producers that account for more than 25% of EU output of stainless steel fasteners, according to the commission, which didn’t identify any manufacturers. The same lobby group, which represents companies including Italy-based Fontana Luigi SpA, was behind the EU anti-dumping case against China. Under EU practices, the commission can impose provisional anti-subsidy duties for four months and provisional anti-dumping levies for six months. The EU’s national governments – acting on a commission proposal – can turn those measures into “definitive” five-year duties at the same or different rates. The commission has nine months from the start of an investigation to decide on provisional measures. EU governments have 13 months from the beginning of a probe to impose five- year anti-subsidy – or “countervailing” – duties and 15 months to impose definitive anti-dumping measures.
