EU Removes Tariffs on Chinese Bricks Used for Steelmaking

The European Union ended tariffs against China on bricks used in steelmaking after the EU's biggest producer of them said it no longer wanted the levies, facilitating imports after almost six years of trade protection.

The EU scrapped the duties as high as 39.9 percent on imports from China of magnesia bricks, used by steelmakers such as Tata Steel Ltd. (TATA) The case pit Austria's RHI AG (RHI), the largest EU maker of the refractory product used to line the vessels in which steel is melted, against other European producers that supported the import taxes.

The decision by the EU's 27 governments on June 21, 2011 in Luxembourg is the outcome of an eight-month inquiry into whether to renew the trade protection and will take effect after being published in the EU Official Journal. Publication is due on June 25.

The EU imposed the import taxes in October 2005 to punish Chinese exporters for selling magnesia bricks in Europe below cost, a practice known as dumping. The goal was to help EU producers after China's share of the European market more than doubled to 15 percent.

RHI, one the European producers that supported the anti- dumping duties in 2005, switched positions last year when the bloc opened the probe into whether to re-impose the levies. The company, which also operates in China, said the varying rates against individual Chinese companies had created an imbalance in the European market.

LWB Refractories GmbH of Germany was among other EU manufacturers of magnesia bricks listed in the bloc's 2005 decision to introduce anti-dumping duties. The levies have stayed in place during the EU review opened in October 2010 into whether to renew them.