Fasteners are essential elements for a vast variety of industries, from simple screws in “do-it-yourself” kits to high-end applications in the car, aviation and electrical industries. The EU fasteners industry is worth €3.2 billion, with one tenth imported from China. EU producers of fasteners, who are mostly SMEs, employ more than 20,000 people across Europe in countries such as Italy, France, Germany, Poland, Croatia, Sweden and Spain.
The anti-dumping measures imposed today will re-establish a level playing field by taking away the unfair competition caused by the price dumping, allowing EU producers of fasteners to compete in the EU market on an equal footing with the imported fasteners. This will ensure that there is continued and healthy production in the EU of fasteners of all ranges, including those used in high tech sectors like the automotive and car industries.
The anti-dumping measures imposed today will have a limited impact on EU users of fasteners. For the vast majority, fasteners represent only a minor part of the total cost of their final product. A shortage of fasteners is also not expected following the introduction of measures, since the EU industry has a large spare production capacity.
The anti-subsidy investigation revealed that Chinese producers of optical fibre cables benefitted from a number of government subsidies, including funds aimed at supporting R&D and innovation, as well as preferential tax rates reserved for the high-tech industry. Furthermore, the Chinese producers had access to attractive loans from the China Development Bank Fund, a policy-oriented investment organisation that supports projects in key strategic sectors set out by the Chinese government. These subsidies create unfair competition and as such are injurious to EU industry.
The European optical fibre cable industry is key to the EU’s digital sovereignty because optical fibre cables are crucial for the transition to advanced broadband telecommunication networks for homes and businesses in the EU. The economic value of this industry is significant for the EU: it employs 5,000 people and has a yearly turnover of €1 billion. Therefore, it is particularly important to ensure that this European industry is not weakened by dumped or subsidised imports.
The anti-subsidy duties imposed on optical fibre cables from China range from 5.1% to 10.3%. As is customary, the anti-dumping measures imposed on the same product on 18 November 2021 have been adjusted to avoid double counting wherever dumping and subsidy practices overlap.