The European Union will refrain from imposing preliminary anti-subsidy tariffs on Chinese paper, delaying a decision on whether to apply such import taxes against China for the first time.

The European Commission said it would waive the right to introduce provisional anti-subsidy duties against China on coated fine paper, which is used for books, brochures and magazines. The EU faces a Jan. 17 deadline to apply four-month levies and a May 17 deadline to impose “definitive” five-year measures requested by producers in Europe including Sappi Ltd.

The EU “continues its investigation,” the commission, the 27-nation bloc’s executive arm in Brussels, said in an e-mail today. “The fact that there are no provisional measures does not imply that there is a higher probability of having no definitive measures.”

Europe’s 4 billion-euro ($5 billion) market for coated fine paper is a focal point of trade tensions after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao snubbed European pleas last October to let the yuan’s exchange rate rise faster. To bolster European exporters and narrow its trade deficit with China, the EU says the Chinese government should follow up more ambitiously on its June pledge to ease the yuan off a two-year peg to the dollar.

In November, as part of a parallel trade inquiry, the EU introduced provisional anti-dumping duties as high as 39.1 percent on Chinese coated fine paper. Such levies aim to counter below-cost imports, whereas anti-subsidy measures target trade- distorting government aid.

Europe imposes anti-dumping duties on Chinese goods ranging from textiles and chemicals to shoes and bicycles. China faces such EU taxes on about 50 products, more than any other nation. The EU has never imposed anti-subsidy levies against China.

The call for European anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties against China comes from a group that includes South Africa- based Sappi, which makes coated fine paper in EU countries including Germany and the Netherlands. Germany’s Papierfabrik Scheufelen GmbH, Spain’s Lecta SA and Italy’s Burgo Group SpA are also in the alliance seeking trade measures.