The European Parquet Federation (FEP) says it welcomes the European Commission’s decision to initiate an anti-dumping investigation against imports of multilayered wood flooring (parquet) from China. The commission’s investigation is a result of a formal complaint filed by FEP on behalf of major EU producers from most EU member states where parquet is produced.
“This investigation is a necessary step to address unfair imports of parquet from China, which enter the EU market at prices considerably lower than those which are normally charged by the EU producers,” says Isabelle Brose, managing director of FEP. “We have provided detailed evidence to the commission on this unfair pricing behavior of the Chinese exporters which is made possible due to the high levels of overcapacity existing in China and its generally distorted economy.”
The European Commission will now conduct an objective, in-depth investigation to assess the extent of Chinese dumping practices and the need for protective measures in order to level the playing field in the EU market. According to FEP, such measures could take the form of additional ad-valorem (or fixed) anti-dumping duties and could be imposed with retroactive effects if it is determined that the Chinese producers would decide to accelerate and increase their imports to the EU prior to imposition of the provisional anti-dumping measures.
FEP and the EU parquet producers are determined to cooperate fully with the commission and provide additional evidence on the dumping practices of Chinese exporters and their impact on the EU industry during the investigation process.
This type of behavior is what caused the US furniture market to collapse.
Unfair trade practices need to be stopped. China does not have any protections for workers what so ever. Therefore, they can dump cheap products into a given market where other manufactures are paying fair wadges.