The European Commission announced on May 23 that it has begun an anti-dumping investigation into lysine imported from China, as the trade war between the Chinese communist regime and the West continues to heat up.
The move comes after China opened an anti-dumping investigation into plastics imported from the West less than a week ago.
Lysine is an amino acid that plays a key role in human and animal diets. It is one of the essential amino acids for the human body, although the human body cannot synthesize it by itself, and it must be absorbed through diet. Lysine is vital for many mechanisms of the human body, including helping to absorb calcium, iron, and zinc, and promoting collagen growth.
The decision is based on “a complaint from the EU industry containing evidence of unfair trading practices” by Chinese manufacturers, an EU Commission spokesperson said, according to Barron’s.
According to the European Union’s (EU’s) notice of the anti-dumping investigation, the French company Metex, which is the only producer of lysine in Europe, lodged a complaint on April 8 arguing that dumping by Chinese lysine producers backed by the Chinese regime has put it in a perilous financial situation.
The complaint stated that the prices of the imported product reduced the quantity sold by Metex, “resulting in substantial adverse effects on the overall performance” of the company.
Dumping refers to the predatory practice of one country flooding another country’s market with underpriced products. It’s considered an unfair trade tactic in the international community.
The anti-dumping investigation will decide if the EU should impose measures to counter the effects of the alleged unfair practices, the spokesperson said.
Trade War Heats Up
Recently, the EU has launched an anti-dumping investigation into cheap Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) that have been flooding the EU market, and said it was considering imposing “targeted” tariffs on them.In addition, the EU has opened anti-dumping investigations on a number of other imported Chinese goods, including tinplate steel, medical equipment, seamless pipes and tubes of iron or steel, multilayered wood flooring, etc.
Meanwhile, the United States has also had a dispute with the Chinese regime regarding China’s industrial overcapacity and dumping of goods in other countries and has raised import tariffs on a range of Chinese goods. President Joe Biden announced on May 14 that tariffs on Chinese EVs will increase to 100 percent on Aug. 1 and that taxes on computer chips and solar cells will be raised to 50 percent, while taxes on lithium-ion batteries will be raised to 25 percent.
As to why the EU’s anti-dumping investigation focuses on lysine this time, Chinese American economist Davy J. Wong explained on May 24 to The Epoch Times: “The amino acid industry exhibits evident competition between Europe, the U.S., and China. Globally, China holds over 30 percent of the amino acid market, ranking first, followed by Europe at nearly 20 percent, and North America at around 16 percent.”
He said that the targeting of Chinese amino acids serves two purposes: “demonstrating China’s overcapacity and reducing the potential for harmful competition from Chinese amino acids in the U.S. and European markets.”
“Additionally, Europe and the U.S. have the capability to replace this supply without significantly impacting EU consumers,” he said.
Mr. Wong stated that China manufactures about 31 percent of the world’s goods, and its share of the export market in international trade is 14.2 percent. China’s largest sources of international trade surplus are with the United States and the European Union.
“China’s so-called global supply chain dominance and its role as the world’s factory are essentially dependent on the U.S. and EU markets,” he said.
In terms of dealing with China’s unfair trade practices, Mr. Wong emphasized, “The recent escalation of the trade war between the U.S. and China (which has been ongoing since 2018) requires coordinated efforts from both the U.S. and the EU to effectively pressure China into complying with WTO regulations and international norms.”
He pointed out that the EU’s recent anti-dumping investigations on Chinese goods show that it is “a gradual process of reducing dependence on Chinese industries.”
Wu Jialong, a macroeconomist in Taiwan, told The Epoch Times on May 25: “It takes some adjustment, time, and cost for the West to import from other places [instead of from China] or to transfer the production line to other places. But Western countries have realized that they have to pay this price. They would rather pay this price than do business with China. This is the current situation.”
As the trade war continues, “China suffers first,” Mr. Wu said. “China’s market has shrunk greatly. Domestic employment income, taxation, and foreign exchange are all affected by it. Foreign countries will also have to pay the price for it and deal with the inconveniences caused by it. For example, it takes some time and process for them to transfer orders to other countries for continuing production. If it causes supply to become tight, prices may rise.
“The Chinese regime says the world can’t do without Chinese supplies, and that’s not wrong. It’s about paying the price. Every country pays the price and makes considerable adjustments, then the problem [of dependence on China] can be solved.”
