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39th annual report on EU trade defence activities: Measures against unfair trade practices remained effective in 2020

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The system of protecting EU businesses against dumped and subsidized imports continued to function well in 2020 thanks to the strong and innovative means at the EU's disposal to use trade defense instruments, despite the practical difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of 2020, the EU had 150 trade defense measures in force, which corresponds to the activity levels of previous years, with an increase in the number of cases brought towards the end of 2020.

The highest number of EU trade defense measures concern imports from China (99 measures), Russia (9 measures), India (7 measures) and the United States (6 measures). In turn, the number of trade defense measures in force by third countries affecting EU exporters has reached its highest level since the start of this surveillance activity by the Commission, with 178 measures in place.

In addition, for the first time, the Commission looked at a new type of subsidy from third countries in the form of cross-border financial support, which was a major challenge for EU companies.

Executive Vice President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said: “The EU needs effective tools to defend itself when we are faced with unfair trade practices. This is an essential pillar of our new strategy for an open, sustainable and assertive trade policy. We continued to effectively use our trade defense instruments during the COVID-19 pandemic, improve their monitoring and enforcement, and looked at new ways to provide subsidies from third countries. We will not tolerate the misuse of trade defense instruments by our trading partners and we will continue to support our exporters involved in such cases. It is essential that our companies and their workers can continue to rely on strong trade defense instruments that protect them against unfair trade practices. ”

This is part of the European Commission's new trade strategy, in which the EU is taking a stronger position to defend its interests against unfair trade practices.

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