A Chinese company which exports ironing boards to European Union countries has filed a lawsuit against the EU over anti-dumping tariffs.

 

Cheng Huazhen, general manager of the Huahe Hardware Company based in east China's Zhejiang Province, said the EU imposed the tariffs according to incorrect investigation results.

 

The lawsuit was filed to the EU court of first instance, and the court has accepted the lawsuit, Li Shengjing, a lawyer representing the firm said.

 

In February last year, the European Commission of the EU launched an anti-dumping investigation into the company. The commission denied market economy status of the company and imposed a 25-percent anti-dumping tariff later in the year after finding the company's finance system not conforming with international accounting standards.

 

Cheng insisted their company was up to the standards and filed plea to the commission. In February this year, the EU granted market economy status to the company and cut the anti-dumping rate to 3.1 percent.

 

But one month later, the commission revoked the company's economic status in an amended document, and raised the anti-dumping rate to 26.5 percent in April, Cheng said.

 

The lawyer representing the firm said the EU also cut short the time for the company to launch a counterplea.

 

In January this year, five Chinese shoemakers from Zhejiang, Taiwan and Hong Kong filed lawsuits against the European Union's anti-dumping tariffs, claiming that the EU didn't routinely and impartially review the companies before meting out the tariffs.

 

Industry analysts say the case the shoemakers launched could last two to four years and cost up to 2 million yuan (about 255,750 US dollars).

 

Huahe Hardware Company was set up in 2004 in Kaihua County of western Zhejiang. Its annual output value is about 50 million yuan (about 6.5 million US dollars), most products are for export to the EU.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2007)