EU Launches Anti-Dumping Investigation into Chinese and Turkish Welded Steel Mesh
The European Commission has officially launched a trade investigation into imports of welded steel mesh (used for grills, netting, and fencing) coming from China and Türkiye.
The move follows a formal complaint filed on April 20, 2026, by the European Welded Steel Mesh Producers Association, representing the EU domestic industry.
European producers claim that manufacturers in China and Türkiye are “dumping” welded steel mesh into the European market—meaning they are selling the product in the EU at artificially low prices that are lower than their actual production costs or domestic market rates.
According to the complaint, these low-priced imports have unfairly taken away market share, forced local companies to drop their prices, and severely harmed the financial health and jobs of the EU steel industry.
Specific Claims Against Each Country
The People’s Republic of China: The complaint argues that domestic prices in China are completely distorted due to heavy government intervention in the steel sector. This includes distorted costs for land, raw materials, labor, and financing. Furthermore, China allegedly distorts the cost of a key raw material (wire rod, which makes up over 17% of production costs) by withholding VAT tax refunds on exports, making local prices artificially cheap. Because of these distortions, investigators will use prices from a neutral country (Türkiye) as a fair benchmark to calculate China’s actual dumping margins.
Türkiye: The claim against Türkiye is more straightforward. The investigation will directly compare the prices at which Turkish manufacturers sell the mesh domestically against the lower prices they charge when exporting it to the EU.
The European Commission will investigate the data to verify if illegal dumping occurred and if it directly caused financial injury to EU businesses.