As a result of the expiration of a clause in China’s accession protocol to the World Trade Organization, the EU and other countries (for instance Canada and the United States) must decide how to treat China after 2016 when applying antidumping measures – one of the most common protectionist tools used in many countries.

The issue is whether to begin treating China as a market economy during antidumping investigations. At the moment, China is considered a non-market economy and this status usually leads to higher duties.

Ambiguity in the interpretation of the legal framework and uncertainty around the economic implications of the change in rules have brought the issue to the forefront of the political and economic debate in the EU. It was in this context that Dr Maurizio Zanardi was invited to speak at the workshop (organised by the Directorate-General for External Policies of the European Parliament). Dr Zanardi was one of two economic and two legal experts who discussed alternative scenarios. As an expert on antidumping policies, Dr Zanardi discussed the economic implications of granting market economy status to China.

You can follow the entire debate in the video below. Dr Zanardi's contribution is at around 1 hour 27 minutes. Questions from british MEP Jude Kirton-Darling follow at around 1 hour 41 minutes.