China rejects EU charges of unfair trade in aluminium wheels

The Chinese government and Chinese aluminium wheel manufacturers Tuesday rejected dumping charges and said an investigation requested by European manufacturers runs counter to World Trade Organization rules. The European Wheel Association (EWA), which represents six aluminium wheel companies, filed a complaint to the European Commission in June, accusing China of dumping its products in the European market and undercutting local businesses.

"The EWA move is against WTO rules. Its petition to the EMS did not mention the names of the six European manufacturers; that is not allowed," a source inside the Ministry of Commerce was quoted as saying by the state-run China Daily on Tuesday.

A statement posted on the ministry's website Friday said Chinese-made aluminium wheels are widely used by European carmakers, including Audi AG, Volkswagen AG and BMW AG.

In the statement, the ministry refuted the dumping claims.

"According to China's customs' statistics, from July 2008 to May 2009 China's export of aluminium wheels amounted to less than 8 per cent of the EU market, and will not damage this market. It is not necessary to have an anti-dumping investigation," the statement said.

Chinese manufacturers also objected to the planned investigation.

Copyright and Exemption Declaration :¢ÙAll articles, pictures and videos that are marked with "China Aluminum Network" on this website are copyright and belong to China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn). When transshipment, any media, website or individual must list the source from "China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn)". We seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÚArticles that marked as copy from others are for transferring more information to readers, do not represent or endorse their opinions or accuracy and reliability. When other media, website or individuals copy from our website, must keep the source. Anyone that changes the articles' sources will hold the responsibilities for copyright and law problems. We also seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÛIf any articles copied by our website concern the copyright and other problems, please contact us within one week.