ECIPE Seminar – Trade Defense in the EU: The Case of Solar Panel Imports from China
The anti-dumping case on imports of solar panels and solar cells from China and the EU trade defense framework.
China is not only the second most important trading partner of the European Union (EU) and the destination of much of its foreign direct investment, but it is also the most targeted country of anti-dumping allegations by the EU. Following a tense dispute about the surge in EU imports of solar panels and solar cells from China in 2013 the European Commission agreed on an undertaking under which Chinese producers commit to sell the affected products at or above a minimum import price. This amicable solution averted a major trade conflict about the largest contested trade volume ever. Future trade defense cases between the EU and China will, however, largely depend on how the dispute about China’s market economy status will be resolved by the end of 2016. What conclusions can be drawn from this and other cases for the future of the EU’s trade defense framework?
Programme
SPEAKERS
Sylvain Plasschaert, Honorary Professor at the University of Antwerp and at the Catholic University of Leuven, will present his new Working Paper assessing the anti-dumping case on solar panel imports from China.
Frank Hoffmeister, Head of DG Trade’s Unit for Trade Defense Investigations II – Anti-circumvention will present the EU anti-dumping case on imports of solar panels from China and provide an update on the EU’s trade defense policy and practices.
Edwin Vermulst, founding partner of Vermulst, Verhaeghe, Graafsma & Bronckers (VVGB) Advocaten, will comment from a legal point of view on the case and the EU’s trade defense framework.
Location
