Measures against unfair trade practices remained solid despite Covid-19

The measures for protecting the EU’s businesses from dumped and subsidised imports continued to function well in 2020 thanks to the EU’s robust and innovative ways of using trade defence instruments, despite the practical challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis said, “The EU needs effective tools to defend ourselves when we face unfair trade practices. This is a key pillar of our new strategy for an open, sustainable and assertive trade policy.

“We have continued to use our trade defence instruments effectively during the Covid-19 pandemic, improved their monitoring and enforcement, and tackled new ways of giving subsidies by third countries.

“We will not tolerate the misuse of trade defence instruments by our trading partners and we will continue to support our exporters caught up in such cases. It is crucial that our companies and their workers can continue to rely on robust trade defence instruments that protect them against unfair trade practices,” he added.

At the end of 2020, the EU had 150 trade defence measures in force, in line with previous years’ activity levels with an increase in the number of cases lodged towards the end of 2020. In addition, for the first time, the Commission addressed a new type of subsidy given by third countries in the form of cross-border financial support that was a serious challenge for EU companies.

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