The European Commission has imposed countervailing duties on imports of aluminium road wheels from Morocco, shielding EU producers and defending 16,600 jobs from unfair trading practices.
The imports were found to be unfairly subsidized, including via China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and as such were harming the EU industry.
A Commission anti-subsidy investigation found that the Moroccan government was systematically supporting its automotive sector through WTO-incompatible subsidies, including grants, loans at preferential rates, and tax exemptions/reductions.
Moreover, the investigation showed that China made direct cross-border financial contributions to one of the two exporting Moroccan producers, in the context of BRI cooperation. The unfairly subsidised imports were shown to be causing injury to EU industry.
The imposition of duties on aluminium road wheels from Morocco underscores the EU’s determination to use trade defence instruments to their fullest extent in defence of EU industry and the global level playing field. The duties imposed range from 5.6%, for the exporting producer benefitting purely from the Moroccan subsidies, to 31.4% for the producer benefitting from both Moroccan and Chinese BRI financial contributions.
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The countervailing duties come on top of the anti-dumping duties imposed on the same product from Morocco on 12 January 2023 (the latter ranging from 9% to 17.5%). There are currently also anti-dumping duties in place on imports of aluminium road wheels from China.
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