On February 22, the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of a countervailing duty (CVD) investigation regarding organic coated steel plate imports originating from China. In response, a senior official from China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) has stated that China will attach great importance to the issue, as reported by China Daily.
The MOC official commented, "In December last year, the EU launched an antidumping investigation on organic coated steel plate originating in China. The EU has not recognized China's market economy status, and has insisted on conducting antidumping and countervailing duty actions on the product in question, violating the rules and norms of the World Trade Organization."
The official continued, "The global economy is currently in crisis, with many European countries in debt. All countries in the world should adopt a cooperative, open and tolerant attitude to tackle the crisis. The move by EU is one of trade protectionism, which not only undermines normal EU-China trade relations but also the joint efforts of the EU and China to deal with the crisis."