Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The European Commission said it will impose anti-dumping tariffs on imports of the sweetener erythritol from China in response to the finding that this was sold in the EU at unfairly low prices, which thus threatens its industry.
In its statement, the commission said the definitive anti-dumping levies range from 34.4% to 233.3%. These duties will be collected retroactively from June 7 last year at the provisional rate set on July 19 last year. It was decided to set the provisional duties at similar levels.
As reported by the Commission, Baolingbao Biology Co. will pay the lowest rate, with Shandong Sanyuan Biotechnology Co. paying 156.7% duty. In addition, the duties will apply for a period of five years. Approximately 30 million euros are spent on sweeteners and erythritol in the EU annually.
What other Chinese products are targeted by EU trade measures?
In addition to erythritol, the EU also filed anti-dumping duties for imported titanium dioxide from China; duties have since been amended as of January 2025, while provisional duties were initially in place from July 2024. The duties range from €0.25 to €0.74 per kilogram, considering it would protect the EU industry for titanium dioxide, where nearly 5,000 people are employed across the Union.
The European Union has been actively imposing anti-dumping duties on various imports from China as part of its trade defense measures. For instance, on August 16, 2024, the EU implemented provisional anti-dumping duties of up to 36.4% on Chinese biodiesel imports, with certain cooperating companies benefiting from lower rates. This came after an investigation found that the cheap biodiesel imports from China were causing devastation to the EU producers as volumes going into import rocketed from about 495,000 tonnes in 2022 to nearly 1.5 million tonnes during the probe period that started in December 2023.
