21 July 2016, Brussels – Cerame-Unie supports AEGIS Europe, an alliance grouping nearly 30 European industry associations, greeting announcement of Commissioners that the EU will not grant China MES - and that the EU would apply a new non-standard methodology for dealing with anti-dumping calculations for imports from China.

Before the debate in  the College of Commissioners of 18 July, AEGIS Europe stated  that the European Commissioners should not grant Market Economy Status (MES) to China, thereby considering distorted Chinese prices and costs in anti-dumping investigations.

Alain Delcourt, President of Cerame-Unie stated, “The European Union needs a strong trade defence system. Trade defence instruments would be weakened by granting MES to China and would make EU manufacturing vulnerable to China’s structural overcapacity. The Chinese production capacity is around 14 times the size of the EU consumption and production, and the overcapacity is 4 times the size of the EU consumption.“

Granting MES to China would endanger fair competition and the future of EU manufacturing industry. Just in the ceramic industry it would cause 100,000 direct jobs to be lost in the ceramic tiles and tableware sectors. As one job in the ceramic industry generates 2-3 indirect jobs, we estimate that an additional 200,000 - 300,000 indirect jobs would also be affected. 

The EU must take a clear stand against Chinese dumping, overcapacity and illegal subsidies. Cerame-Unie supports free trade; however fair competition must be assured and international trade partners, including China, should be playing by the same rules.