The European Commission has officially opened an anti-dumping investigation into imports of Chinese steel wheels. This follows a complaint lodged at the beginning of January by the Association of European Wheel Manufacturers, EUWA.

In its complaint, EUWA indicated dumping was occurring due to “…overcapacity problems in the steel market in China”, aggravated by the effect of recent trade defence measures taken by the EU and the US. The association believes the dumping is caused by extremely low prices for hot rolled coil, the main raw material for Chinese producers of steel wheels.

The European Commission could apply preliminary duties within nine months, while definitive measures should be announced by June 2020.

The opening of the investigation into Chinese steel wheels confirms that, as Europe imposes ever-more stringent import rules for steel, dumping will shift to more processed downstream steel products, Kallanish notes.