Never mind Europe’s chemical industry creaking under the onslaught of low-cost imports, the European Commission’s back office is also struggling to keep up with a flood of anti-dumping complaints.
The number of cases, particularly against Chinese producers, has increased sharply over the past year, stretching resources down at the Directorate-General for Trade, which investigates dumping allegations.
“We have an increasing number of anti-dumping cases that are stressing their resources,” Markus Kamieth, CEO of BASF, said on a call today, referring to the chemical industry in general. “It is a very practical problem. They don’t have enough people to work on these cases.”
That is extending the time period needed to impose duties “by quite a bit,” Kamieth added.
The relatively quick imposition of provisional duties on 1,4 butanediol imports from China, Saudi Arabia, and the U.S. is seen something of a test case that is piquing the interest of companies like BASF. The original complaint was brought by INEOS in June 2025. Eight months later, duties were imposed. Starting in February, Chinese BDO producers have been hit with duties ranging from 106-114%. For Saudi Arabia, the rate is 52%, and imports originating from the US face 136-143%.
Kamieth feels there is “quite a grounding” for other cases beyond BDO that are in the pipeline, and provisional duties could be a fast track. He declined to discuss specific situations.
“We have active discussions that, from my perspective, would allow for much swifter implementation,” the BASF CEO said. While the talks with the Commission are active, there is “no super-quick fix in the political space,” and BASF does not want to be in an artificial zoo environment protected by duties as that would hinder efficiency improvements in the region, Kamieth added.
According to the European Chemical Industry Council and Roland Berger, Europe has lost 37 million metric tons or 9% of its production capacity since 2022. In addition to the 20,000 jobs eliminated already, a further 89,000 indirect jobs remain at risk.
“I am positive. You will see a much stronger reaction by the EU on protection against anti-competitive imports,” Kamieth added.