European Aluminium has warned against the Commission's proposed 9-month suspension of the definitive anti-dumping duties on Chinese aluminium flat-rolled products. European Aluminium Director General Mr Gerd Gotz said "On 30 August, the European Commission released its annual report on EU trade defence activity, in which it writes European companies and their workers can continue to rely on robust trade defence instruments that protect them against unfair trade practices. Only two days later, the Commission announced its intention to suspend the definitive anti-dumping duties on aluminium flat-rolled products from China. This news has sent shock waves through the aluminium industry and other industrial sectors. How can European industries trust in the urgently needed trade enforcement measures when the flood gates for high-carbon, dumped Chinese products stay so willingly open?"

European Aluminium warned that the impact of a suspension on the European aluminium value chain would be devastating and long-lasting. Tens of thousands of EU jobs and hundreds of millions of euros in decarbonisation and recycling investments are on the line. The EU risks further losing production capacity for a material that is critical to the EU's green transition, compromising Europe's strategic autonomy. Furthermore, a suspension will boost Chinese imports with a high carbon footprint, endangering the EU's climate ambitions. The carbon footprint of European primary aluminium production is one of the lowest globally: approximately 7kg of C02 per kg of aluminium compared to the Chinese average of 20kg of C02 per kg of aluminium. European Aluminium also points out a suspension signals China's unfair trade practices are tolerated and might set a dangerous precedent for anti-dumping cases in other sectors. A suspension could jeopardize transatlantic relations in the joint fight for free and fair trade on a global scale.

The European aluminium industry is determined to pursue all avenues to challenge the proposed suspension because it's fundamentally unwarranted and contradictory to the Commission's trade and climate ambitions. We request the Commission not to suspend the definitive measures due for October 2021 and offer support for an urgently needed in-depth and balanced investigation

The European Commission's Definitive Findings in the anti-dumping investigation into certain aluminium flat rolled products (case AD668) confirmed that China practices injurious dumping of aluminium FRPs on the EU market, causing significant injury to EU producers. Definitive duties were set at 14% to 25% to raise China's unfair prices to market conform prices. Nevertheless, after a rushed 30-day suspension investigation, the Commission suddenly announced its intention to suspend the definitive anti-dumping duties for nine months.

The main applications of the products concerned are the building and construction sector, foil sector, technical applications, mobility sector and consumer durables.

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