EU decides to go after Jushi, Hengshi Egypt in China trade probe: The European Commission has imposed anti-dumping duties on glass fibre fabrics as it continues to countervail alleged “market-distorting aid” by the Chinese and Egyptian governments to subsidiaries of Chinese state-owned companies that sell fibreglass fabrics to Europe out of Egypt, Bloomberg says. The decision applies to product originating from China or Egypt. The probe is the first time the EU has penalizes a government (China) that gives aid to subsidiaries of national companies located offshore.

The duties target companies affiliated with China National Building Material Group, including Jushi Egypt and Hengshi Egypt Fiberglass Fabrics. The decision follows other import duties the EU imposed on Egypt- and China-made fibreglass as part of a separate probe by the commission into the same class of products and also concerning Jushi and Hengshi.

EU officials said the companies receive subsidies and direct aid from China and Egypt. This undercuts European producers, namely Finnish company Ahlstrom-Munksjö. European glass-fiber manufacturers have claimed to have suffered “material injury” due to what they described as trade-distorting incentives, including an exemption from value-added tax and import tariffs. Egypt’s share of the European market for glass fiber reinforcements almost tripled to 14% between 2016 and 2018 while China’s share fell to 5% from 8%.