The European Commission imposed today provisional anti-dumping duties against imports of ceramic tiles originating in China. The duties range from 26.2% to 36.6% for all the Chinese companies that cooperated with the Commission's investigation. A residual duty of 73% applies to other Chinese companies which chose not to cooperate.
The provisional duties apply to glazed and unglazed ceramic flags and paving, hearth or wall tiles; glazed and unglazed ceramic mosaic cubes and similar articles, whether or not rectangular, whether or not on a backing.
This anti-dumping investigation was initiated in June 2010 at the request of CET, the European Ceramic Tile Manufacturers’ Federation. The EU ceramic tiles industry represents a turnover of € 9 Billion and employs directly 75.000 employees in the EU (cumulative direct and indirect employment is estimated at 230.000). It is a competitive industry with strong export performance and is a world leader in product development, innovation and design ... However, on the EU market, European manufacturers are suffering from unfair practices and dumped imports from China.

The investigation appears to have found that significant dumping is indeed taking place, and that unfairly priced Chinese imports are causing serious injury to European producers. Furthermore it has found that none of the Chinese producers operates under market economy conditions.
The duties imposed today are not there to exclude Chinese products from the European market or afford undue protection to the European producers of ceramic tiles. The duties are established “simply to bring Chinese prices to a fair level, making it possible for ceramic tile production to continue in Europe, and creating the conditions for healthy competition to develop” said CET’s President Mr. Alfonso Panzani. He also stressed that the EU ceramic tiles industry is a highly competitive and innovative industry which performs well on exports markets and “there is no reason why we should be less competitive in Europe than when we export outside of the EU” he concluded.
European producers of ceramic tiles need the level playing field established by these measures against Chinese unfairly priced imports. We are confident that the provisional duties imposed today will be confirmed with the support of the Member States of the European Union, at the end of the ongoing investigation.
The duties imposed against Chinese ceramic tiles are not exclusionary duties, and will not foreclose Chinese producers from the European market. CET members are strongly in favour of fair competition, and welcome it from wherever it may come. The measures imposed today are essential to restore a fair competitive environment, where all producers of ceramic tiles, including European ones, can flourish.

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