EU seeks curbs on PET imports amid pressure on regional producers

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EU seeks PET import curbs

Highlights

Five EU countries have asked the European Commission to consider safeguard measures on PET imports, citing harm to domestic producers.
The European Commission has 30 days to decide whether to open a formal investigation, with potential import quotas and tariffs on volumes above set limits.
Following 2023 anti-dumping duties of 6.6%–24.2% on Chinese PET resin, Turkey, Vietnam, and Egypt have become the EU's main PET suppliers amid broader EU-China trade tensions.

Safeguard request puts PET trade under Commission review

As reported by Reuters, five EU countries have filed a request with the European Commission for measures to curb imports of PET, the plastic widely used in packaging, as trade lawyers say a surge in inbound shipments is hurting the domestic industry.

The request concerns possible safeguard measures, a trade tool that would set import quotas for each exporting country and either block or tariff volumes that exceed those limits. The Commission, which is responsible for handling the case, has 30 days to decide whether to open a formal investigation.

The lawyers did not identify the five countries involved. Major EU PET resin producers include Belgium, Lithuania, Germany, Poland and Portugal, and the industry has been pressing for protective action for several months.

Trade lawyers say the Commission only gave the green light last week to handle the complaint, prompting the filing. The case also reaches across several layers of the PET supply chain, where the EU already imposed anti-dumping duties of between 6.6% and 24.2% on PET resin from China in 2023.

Broader trade tensions shape plastics import debate

The move comes as the EU weighs wider action on imports from China and other trading partners. EU leaders meeting at a summit in Brussels on Thursday are expected to outline what the bloc should do next to limit Chinese exports to the EU after a sharp increase that has pushed the goods trade deficit with China to 360 billion euros, or $402 billion, last year.

The Commission last week also secured an agreement with Beijing to limit imports of hybrid cars from China to 350,000 per year through a safeguard mechanism that will also apply to other EU trading partners. That broader policy backdrop may add significance to the PET request as Brussels considers additional tools to protect sensitive industries.

After anti-dumping duties were imposed on Chinese PET resin, Turkey, Vietnam and Egypt became the main exporting countries supplying the product to the EU. The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Our earlier article on the EU-China hybrid car import agreement explained how Brussels aimed to use that deal as a springboard for broader trade rebalancing. EU officials signalled that, beyond autos, the bloc could widen its focus to other sectors and step up trade-defence action if the trade gap remains unresolved.

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