On February 17, 2022, the European Commission issued a final announcement showing that the final decision to impose a dumping tax rate on steel fasteners originating in the People’s Republic of China is 22.1%-86.5%, which is consistent with the results announced in December last year. . Among them, Jiangsu Yongyi accounted for 22.1%, Ningbo Jinding 46.1%, Wenzhou Junhao 48.8%, other responding companies 39.6%, and other non-responding companies 86.5%. This Ordinance shall take effect on the day following the announcement.
Jin Meizi found that not all fastener products involved in this case did not include steel nuts and rivets. Please refer to the end of this article for the specific products involved and customs codes.
For this anti-dumping, Chinese fastener exporters expressed the strongest protest and firm opposition.
According to EU customs statistics, in 2020, the EU imported 643,308 tons of fasteners from mainland China, with an import value of 1,125,522,464 euros, making it the largest source of fastener imports in the EU. The EU levies such high anti-dumping duties on my country, which is bound to have a huge impact on domestic enterprises exporting to the EU market.
How do domestic fastener exporters respond?
Looking at the last EU anti-dumping case, in order to deal with the EU’s high anti-dumping duties, some exporting companies took risks and shipped fastener products to third countries, such as Malaysia, Thailand and other countries, by evasion. The country of origin becomes a third country.
According to European industry sources, the above-mentioned method of re-exporting through a third country is illegal in the EU. Once found by EU customs, EU importers will be subject to high fines or even imprisonment. Therefore, most of the more conscious EU importers do not accept this practice of transshipment through third countries, given the EU’s strict monitoring of transshipment.
So, in the face of the EU’s anti-dumping stick, what do domestic exporters think? How will they respond?
Jin Meizi interviewed some people in the industry.
Manager Zhou of Zhejiang Haiyan Zhengmao Standard Parts Co., Ltd. said: Our company specializes in the production of various fasteners, mainly machine screws and triangular self-locking screws. The EU market accounts for 35% of our export market. This time, we participated in the EU anti-dumping response, and finally obtained a more favorable tax rate of 39.6%. So many years of experience in foreign trade tell us that when encountering foreign anti-dumping investigations, export enterprises must pay attention and actively participate in responding to the lawsuit.
Zhou Qun, deputy general manager of Zhejiang Minmetals Huitong Import and Export Co., Ltd., pointed out: Our company’s main export products are general fasteners and non-standard parts, and the main markets include North America, Central and South America and the European Union, of which exports to the European Union account for less to 10%. During the EU’s first anti-dumping investigation, our company’s market share in Europe was seriously affected due to the unfavorable response to the lawsuit. The anti-dumping investigation this time was precisely because the market share was not high and we did not respond to the lawsuit.
Anti-dumping is bound to have a certain impact on my country’s short-term fastener exports, but in view of the industrial scale and professionalism of China’s general fasteners, as long as exporters respond to the lawsuit in a group, actively cooperate with the Ministry of Commerce and industry chambers of commerce, and keep close contact Importers and distributors of fasteners at all levels in the EU have actively persuaded them that the EU’s anti-dumping of fasteners exported to China will have a good turn.
Mr. Ye of Yuyao Yuxin Hardware Industry Co., Ltd. said: Our company mainly deals with expansion bolts such as casing gecko, car repair gecko, inner forced gecko, hollow gecko, and heavy gecko. In general, our products do not belong to the scope of this time. , but the specific original details of how the EU is implemented is not very clear, because some products also include washers and bolts and do not know whether they need to be cleared separately (or not a separate category). I asked some of the company’s European customers, and they all said that the impact was not significant. After all, in terms of product categories, we are involved in a small number of products.
The person in charge of a fastener export company in Jiaxing said that because many of the company’s products are exported to the EU, we are also particularly concerned about this incident. However, we found that in the list of other cooperative companies listed in the annex of the EU announcement, in addition to fastener factories, there are also some trading companies. Companies with higher tax rates may continue to maintain European export markets by exporting on the name of respondent companies with lower tax rates, thereby reducing losses.
Here, Sister Jin also gives some suggestions:
1. Reduce export concentration and diversify the market. In the past, my country’s fastener exports were dominated by Europe and the United States, but after frequent anti-dumping sticks in recent years, domestic fastener companies realized that “putting all eggs in the same basket” is not a wise move, and began to explore Southeast Asia, India, Russia and other broader emerging markets, and consciously reduce the proportion of exports to Europe and the United States.
At the same time, many fastener companies are now vigorously developing domestic sales, striving to ease the pressure of overseas exports through the pull of the domestic market. The country has recently launched new policies to stimulate domestic demand, which will also have a great pulling effect on the fastener market demand. Therefore, domestic enterprises cannot put all their treasures in the international market and rely too much on the European and American markets. From the current stage, “both inside and outside” may be a wise move.
2. Promote the mid-to-high-end product line and accelerate the upgrading of the industrial structure. Since China’s fastener industry is a labor-intensive industry and the added value of export products is low, if the technical content is not improved, there may be more trade frictions in the future. Therefore, in the face of increasingly fierce competition from international counterparts, it is imperative for Chinese fastener enterprises to continue to develop steadily, structural adjustment, independent innovation, and transformation of economic growth models. China’s fastener industry should realize the transformation from low value-added to high value-added, from standard parts to non-standard special-shaped parts as soon as possible, and strive to increase the focus on automotive fasteners, aviation fasteners, nuclear power fasteners, etc. Research and development and promotion of high-end high-strength fasteners. This is the key to enhancing the core competitiveness of enterprises and avoiding being detained “low price” and “dumped”. At present, many domestic fastener enterprises have entered into special industries and achieved some success.
3. Enterprises and industry associations should cooperate vertically and horizontally, actively seek national policy support, and jointly resist international trade protectionism. From a long-term perspective, the country’s strategic policies will definitely affect the development of the entire industry, especially the fight against international trade protectionism, not to mention the strong backing of the country. At the same time, the development of the industry must be jointly promoted by industry associations and enterprises. It is very necessary to strengthen the cooperation between enterprises, strengthen the development and growth of industry associations, and help enterprises to fight various international lawsuits. However, international trade protectionism such as anti-dumping and anti-dumping by companies alone is usually doomed to be weak and powerless. At present, “policy assistance” and “association assistance” still have a long way to go, and many tasks need to be explored and overcome one by one, such as intellectual property protection policies, industry norms and fastener standards, and common technology research and development platforms. , commercial litigation, etc.
4. Develop multiple markets to expand the “circle of friends”. From the perspective of the breadth of space, enterprises should pay attention to both domestic and foreign markets, lay a foundation for external expansion based on domestic demand for high-quality products and services, and actively explore the international market under the tone of seeking progress while maintaining stability. On the other hand, it is recommended that enterprises optimize the international market structure of foreign trade exports, change the situation that enterprises only deploy in a single overseas market, and conduct multiple overseas market layouts to reduce the country risk of foreign trade exports.
5. Improve the technical content and product quality of products and services. From the perspective of space, enterprises should speed up transformation and upgrading, add more new options, not just low-end products in the past, open up more new fields, and cultivate and create new advantages in international trade competition. If an enterprise has mastered core technologies in key areas, which will help build the core competitiveness of products, it will be easier to grasp the pricing power of products, and then they can effectively respond to the increase in tariffs on products in Europe and the United States and other countries. Enterprises should increase investment in technology, improve product competitiveness, and obtain more orders through product upgrades.
6. Interconnection among peers boosts confidence. Some industry associations pointed out that the fastener industry is currently under great pressure, and Europe and the United States have imposed high tariffs on Chinese companies, but don’t worry, our domestic fastener prices still have advantages. That is, peers kill each other, and peers must unite with each other to ensure quality. This is a better way to deal with trade wars.
7. All fastener companies should strengthen communication with business associations. Obtain early warning information of “two anti-one guarantee” in a timely manner, and do a good job in risk prevention in the export market.
8. Strengthen international exchanges and communication. Actively cooperate with foreign importers, downstream users and consumers to reduce the pressure of trade protection. In addition, seize the time to upgrade products and industries, gradually transform from comparative advantages to competitive advantages, and use the export of downstream machinery manufacturing and other industries to drive the company’s products It is also a reasonable way to avoid trade frictions and reduce losses at present.
The products involved in this anti-dumping case include: certain steel fasteners (except stainless steel), namely: wood screws (except lag screws), self-tapping screws, other head screws and bolts (whether with or without nuts or washers, but excluding Screws and bolts for securing railway track construction materials) and washers.
Involved customs codes: CN codes 7318 1290, 7318 14 91, 7318 14 99, 731815 58, 7318 15 68, 7318 15 82, 7318 15 88, ex7318 15 95 (TARIC codes 7318 1595 19 and 7318 8) 7318 21 00 (TariccoDes 7318 21 00 31, 7318 21 0039, 7318 21 00 95) and EX7318 22 00 (Taric Codes 7318 22 00 31, 7318 22 00 39, 7318 22 0095 and 7318 2200 98).
Post time: Mar-09-2022
