The European Commission has said that it will impose definitive anti-subsidy measures on imports from China of certain hot-rolled flat steel (HRF) products.
 
The definitive countervailing duties will be imposed at rates of up to 35.9 percent.
 
The Commission initiated an anti-subsidy investigation on HRF in May 2016, following a complaint from Eurofer, the European Steel Association. The Commission said the investigation confirmed the existence of countervailable subsidies, and found that Chinese subsidized imports are putting the EU's steel industry in a vulnerable state.
 
According to the Commission, the Chinese Government is supporting its steel industry through considerable subsidies, including preferential lending, tax rebates, and other financial injections. It said these subsidies have allowed Chinese companies to sell HRF at artificially low prices on the EU market, and that the profitability of EU producers had sharply decreased by the end of 2015.
 
The Commission said that its latest decision looks for the first time at Chinese government subsidies. It decided upon a significant rate of countervailing duties on account of what it said were the many different ways in which the Chinese Government unfairly supports its exporters.
 
The current investigation is linked to a parallel anti-dumping investigation on imports of HRF originating in China. In the parallel case, the Commission last month decided to impose definitive anti-dumping duties ranging between 18.1 percent and 35.9 percent. In order to avoid double-counting, the Commission amended the parallel anti-dumping Regulation based on the outcome of the anti-subsidy investigation.