Europe Fights Dumping of Indian Ceramic as Imports Increase

Bologna, IT, September 25, 2024-European industry remains resolute in its stance against dumped Indian imports and is committed to taking every possible action to combat unfair trade practices with the support of the EU institutions.
In the report entitled The Future of European Competitiveness, presented on September 9 in Brussels, Mario Draghi explores the future trajectory of Europe’s economic competitiveness and proposes strategies for strengthening the European Union’s position within the global economy. The report underscores the important role of trade policy in aligning the EU’s decarbonization goals with the need to maintain the global competitiveness of European industry. From this perspective, one of the key priorities involves “levelling the playing field in sectors more exposed to unfair competition from abroad and/or facing more exacting decarbonization targets than their international competitors,  including applying tariffs and other trade measures where warranted.” In other words, Draghi recommends that European institutions adopt policies or apply duties to ensure that sectors highly exposed to international competition (such as the Italian ceramic tile industry, a leading Italian manufacturing sector that generates 83% of its revenue from exports) are able to compete globally on a level playing field. He points out that these sectors face unfair competition from producers in countries that not only fail to meet Europe’s standards for environmental and social sustainability but have already been sanctioned for unfair trade practices.
Regarding the ceramic tile sector, failure to comply with international trade rules is a significant issue not only with China but also with India, which has developed an extremely aggressive ceramic tile industry in recent years. It is the country that has experienced the biggest growth in exports to the EU over the past five years (an increase of 235% since 2018), a period in which European ceramic tile consumption has grown by only 2%.
In 2023, the European Commission recognized India’s unfair trade practices by imposing anti-dumping duties on Indian ceramic tile imports. However, as the above figures indicate, these measures have done nothing to curb India’s aggressive penetration into the European market. Following the imposition of duties, Indian imports into the EU surged by approximately 67% (2023 figure), even as the overall market shrank by about 20%. In response, the European institutions have acknowledged that these actions are ineffective and have expressed their willingness to explore further solutions to counter India’s unfair practices.
Over the past decade, India’s ceramic tile production capacity has increased from 1.2 billion square meters to 3.7 billion square meters per year, allowing India to gain significant market share not only in the EU but also in the U.S. and the rest of the world. In light of the forthcoming publication in the U.S. of provisional anti-subsidy and anti-dumping duties on Indian imports, which are expected to range between 328% and 489%, the European ceramic tile industry is urging the new European Commission to likewise implement adequate measures to combat unfair competition at the EU level.