The European Commission's final ruling on tariffs imposed on aerial work platforms made in China and imported into the EU

The measure follows a complaint by the EU Alliance for the Restoration of Fair Competition in the Mobile Access Equipment Industry, a group of European companies including Manitou, which argued that Chinese companies were selling the equipment at dumping prices, affecting revenues and jobs in Europe. Last year, the European Commission launched its first anti-dumping investigation against imports of mobile access equipment (MAE) originating in the People's Republic of China. It first announced temporary tariffs in July.

The Commission said: "Given the conclusions reached on dumping, injury, causation, level of measures and EU interests... Final anti-dumping measures should be adopted in order to prevent further harm to the EU industry as a result of dumped imports of the products concerned." According to the assessment, the final anti-dumping duties are set as follows:

The 42-page final ruling showed that the European Commission had initially found no clear evidence of dumping prices. However, after hearing further evidence from European manufacturers and listening to the views of Chinese manufacturers and other stakeholders, the Commission has come to a conclusion about the impact of these practices on the European market.

The Commission said that despite limited evidence of dumping, the rapid growth of equipment sales in China was significant. The analysis also compares manufacturing costs in China to those of Brazilian company Madal Palfinger, although the latter only produces certain types of truck mounting platforms, and the production environment in Brazil is different from that in China. China's proposal to use Malaysia as a benchmark was rejected.

As a result, the European Commission has lowered most of the initial proposed tariffs, but will still impose final duties on these products. Details of the final rate were not provided in the disclosure document, but the final rate was lower than originally suggested.

In the end, the European Commission decided not to impose retrospective tariffs because it found no evidence that Chinese manufacturers had accumulated inventories in Europe. But the investigation into possible government subsidies to certain Chinese manufacturers is still ongoing, and the exact date for the imposition of tariffs has not yet been set, as the final decision could rest with the European Parliament and its potential negotiations on other trade issues.