About: Market Economy Status Archives

China has persuaded the European Commission to cut estimates of its spare steel capacity, raising concerns in Europe that Brussels may be weakening its stance against cheap Chinese imports.

The European Union launched a public consultation on Wednesday (10 February) into whether to relax trade defences against China, as pressure mounts from the steel sector, which is fiercely opposed to a move that would make it harder to impose anti-dumping duties.

Trade ministers met on Tuesday (2 February) to weigh options presented by the European Commission on the thorny issue of granting China market economy status.

Looking ahead, China and the EU, who share the timely goal of transforming their growth models, should find ways to manage their differences in a constructive way and adopt new initiatives, writes Yang Yanyi.

Trade ministers will air their differences today (2 February) on the tricky issue of granting China market economy status starting in December, which Beijing considers to be ‘automatic’, following its admission to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

In 2016, the EU will need to start pairing back the ‘non-market economy’ treatment it offers Chinese firms. The US ?is pressing the EU not to grant China Market Econony Status (MES) automatically, says Guy de Jonquières.