The EC Competition team is highly experienced in supporting client’s interests in international trade issues, notably EU trade defence proceedings such as anti-dumping, anti-subsidy, safeguard proceedings and market access proceedings, customs and free movement of goods (and all related World Trade Organisation (“WTO”) issues, from which a body of the relevant law derives).  Members of the team have expert experience of working in the European capital of Brussels in these areas. 

EU trade defence proceedings: We advise on investigations led by the European Commission regarding goods imported into the European Union which are sold at less than their comparable price for the same goods on the domestic market of the exporter (anti-dumping) and imported goods which benefit from unfair subsidies in their country of manufacture (anti-subsidy). 

We also have experience in the much rarer investigations of safeguards, where in critical market situations the European market for particular goods might receive protection against imports from all countries of origin. We haveacted in many different investigations for a broad range of products from different countries and from a variety of perspectives including EU domestic industry, third country exporters and related European importers, independent traders and European end users;

Customs and indirect taxation: The EU is founded on a customs union and a single market, which requires the prohibition of customs duties, quantitative restrictions and measures having equivalent effect in trade between Member States. We advise on all matters related to the customs union, the Common Customs Tariff to be applied against imports into the EU, and related procedures as implemented at national level throughout the Member States. 

This includes matters of customs classification of particular goods (ie. what eight digit CN or HS code should apply to trade across borders), proper valuation (ie. what is the proper value of a good at the moment at which tariffs are incurred, which is particularly important for intra-company transfers) and origin of goods (ie. from where does a particular imported product originate, as this can greatly influence the applicable tariffs in situations where preferences or penalties (such as anti-dumping duties) may apply;

WTO law: Since many of the issues on which EU trade law are founded derive from the World Trade Organisation, the team is highly experienced in handling this aspect of international trade disputes on an inter-governmental level where necessary.