From the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, on April 23, 2021 local time, the European Commission issued a notice, considering the technical complexity of the case, and decided not to implement interim measures against China’s optical fiber and cable anti-dumping investigations at this stage. It is reported that the product involved in the case is a single-mode optical fiber cable.

On September 24, 2020, the European Commission issued an announcement to formally initiate an anti-dumping investigation on single-mode optical cable products imported from China (excluding active optical cables and submarine optical cables) at the request of the European Union’s domestic industry Europacable Association. European manufacturers believe that the product is sold at artificially low prices in the European market.

Reports at the time showed that the Europacable Association stated that after the United States recently imposed new tariffs on China’s fiber optic cable products, Europe’s imports of China’s fiber optic cables have increased and are expected to increase further. European manufacturers are being affected by the lower prices of Chinese products and are losing market share.

According to Europacable, 15%-20% of the 1.2 million kilometers of optical cables sold in Europe in 2019 came from China. (The total value of the European fiber optic cable market in 2019 is approximately 1 billion euros). From 2016 to 2019, Europe’s imports of Chinese optical cables have increased by 150%.

It is reported that the EU anti-dumping investigation period is as long as 15 months, but temporary tariffs can be implemented within 8 months. If the European Commission finds evidence of dumping by Chinese manufacturers, that is, they sell products at prices lower than China’s or lower production costs, the EU may impose tariffs, quotas or other restrictive measures to limit their sales in the European market. The share will usually apply for 5 years.

It can be seen that the EU does not take temporary measures against China’s optical fiber and cable anti-dumping investigations this time, which means that measures to increase temporary tariffs will not be taken during the anti-dumping investigation cycle. The Chamber of Commerce of Electrical and Mechanical Services stated that it will continue to follow up the case and do a good job in the guidance and defense.