The EU Anti-Dumping Policy Toward China After The European Sovereign Debt Crisis

Over the past four decades, the trade between China and the EU witnesses remarkable achievements. Since1975when the EC established diplomatic relations with China, the bilateral trade volume has kept growing. In the21st century, with China’s entry into WTO and the EU’s enlargement in2004, the EU becomes the biggest trade partner of China while China is the second biggest partner of the EU. There seems to be a promising future of trade. However, the trade disputes, especially anti-dumping investigations, increase along with trade volume. The dispute over textiles in2005first throws Chinese producers under the threat of the EU’s anti-dumping measure. Afterwards the EU strengthens its anti-dumping measures on China year by year, investigating a number of products including iron and steel, chemicals, agricultural products and electronics. After the sovereign debt crisis, the anti-dumping situation was tougher than before. Under the pressure of economic downturn, the EU launched the biggest ever anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation to Chinese solar panels in2012. This dispute verifies that after the sovereign debt crisis, the EU depends more on the antidumping measures and sets more trade barriers to China. What are the changes in the EU’s anti-dumping policies? Why does the EU strengthen anti-dumping measures? Why does China become that target? What are the impacts of the restrictive anti-dumping measure on China? How can China react? This study is designed to answer these questions.The trade relations between the EU and China become one of the main subjects in Chinese academia after the sovereign debt crisis. Scholars analyze from various perspectives including the EU’s member countries, regulations and trade barriers and provide abundant information to examine the anti-dumping measures in the EU. Based on their researches, this study will have an interdisciplinary approach to examine the changes in the EU about anti-dumping policies, the causes of the changes, their impacts on China and suggestions about China’s reactions. Besides, it gives a case study on the2012China-EU solar panel dispute in order to show specifically the EU’s strengthened anti-dumping measures.The study finds that in the context of European sovereign debt crisis, there is a more restrictive anti-dumping policy in the EU. After the sovereign debt crisis, the EU strengthens the anti-dumping policies against China and there are negative changes in three aspects:anti-dumping practice, the EU’s public opinion and the anti-dumping legislation. The reasons why the EU imposes restrictive anti-dumping measure against China are the European’s perception of its own market power identity and the imbalance in bilateral trade. On the one hand, the EU is anxious to protect the European market through negative trade measures; on the other hand, the EU’s deficit to China and China’s non-market economy status make it easy for China to be the target of the EU’s anti-dumping measures. The restrictive anti-dumping measure brings both challenges and opportunities to China. It impacts China’s economy and export, but at the same time stimulates the industrial restructuring in China.This research is significant because it provides the latest data of the China-EU trade which cover policy, public opinion, legislation and trade defense statistics. These data offer some insights into the general situation of the EU’s anti-dumping policy after the sovereign debt crisis and expose changes of European trade policies to China in detail. Meanwhile, it provides valuable and practical suggestions for China to respond to the EU’s anti-dumping measures and promote trade with the EU.