EU countries file request to curb PET imports, lawyers say

By Philip Blenkinsop

BRUSSELS, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Five EU countries have filed a request with the European Commission for measures to curb imports of PET, the plastic widely used in packaging, arguing that a surge in inbound shipments is harming the domestic industry, EU trade lawyers said.

The request concerns potential safeguard measures, which would set import quotas per exporting country and either prevent or impose tariffs on out-of-quota volumes. The EU's executive Commission, which will handle the request, has 30 days to determine whether to open an investigation.

The lawyers did not name the countries. Large EU PET resin producers include Belgium, Lithuania, Germany, Poland and Portugal. 

The Commission last week secured an agreement with Beijing to limit imports of hybrid cars from China to 350,000 per year, which will take the form of a safeguard and also apply to other EU trading partners.

EU leaders meeting for a summit in Brussels on Thursday are expected to lay out what the bloc should do next to limit Chinese exports to the EU, which have spiked, driving the bloc's goods trade deficit with China to €360 billion ($402 billion) last year.

The PET industry has been pushing for measures for some months, but trade lawyers said that the Commission only gave the green light to handle the complaint last week, prompting the filing.

The case would address multiple layers of the PET supply chain. The European Union imposed anti-dumping duties of between 6.6% and 24.2% on PET resin coming from China in 2023. The dominant countries exporting that product to the EU are now Turkey, Vietnam and Egypt.

The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

($1 = 0.8933 euros)

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)