BEIJING, July 30 (Reuters) - China on Thursday expressed regret over a decision by European Union trade experts to apply permanent penalties on imports of Chinese steel pipes, saying the tariffs were not necessary.

The duties will replace a series of provisional six-month duties. [ID:nLS103117]

Permanent or definitive EU trade duties usually last for five years. While details of the duty rates have yet to emerge, officials said they were expected to range up to around 40 percent, depending on the product concerned.

The experts represented each of the EU's 27 member countries and were voting on a proposal tabled by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm. Once their decision is published in the EU's Official Journal, it will enter into force.

But China's Xinhua news agency, citing an unnamed Commerce Ministry official, said the country's exports of these products to the EU had already fallen massively and so the duties were not needed.

"China express regret about this decision," it paraphrased the official as saying.

"In fact, last year China began putting a 15 percent export tax on the pipes, and exports to the EU have dropped rapidly since then, so they will not have any effect on EU industry. This anti-dumping tariff is not necessary," it added.

Brussels imposed the duties on imports of "certain seamless pipes and tubes of iron or steel", mainly used in construction, in April following a complaint from the EU steel industry. Those duties ranged from 15 to 25 percent.

The European producers accused China of giving its own steel companies an unfair advantage by restricting exports of raw materials, driving down their domestic costs, and subsidising Chinese manufacturers.

Trade disputes between Brussels and Beijing are on the rise since the EU's trade deficit with China has ballooned. The EU has imposed a number of anti-dumping tariffs on imports of Chinese goods ranging from shoes to steel products.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard, Editing by Peter Blackburn)

Reuters News
TRADE-CHINA/EU-STEEL

Source: www.forexyard.com