Imports of Chinese cranes labelled “manifestly unfair”

Four of the largest crane manufacturers in Europe filed a complaint with the European Commission about imports of Chinese mobile cranes into the European Union.

Liebherr, Manitowoc, Sennebogen and Tadano filed the complaint via the VDMA Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association, of which they are members. It calls for urgent investigation into “imports of Chinese mobile cranes marketed in the EU at conditions that result in manifestly unfair competition for European producers.”

The four companies represent around 99 per cent of the mobile crane industry in the European Union, according to VDMA.

“Chinese mobile cranes [are] marketed in the EU at conditions that result in manifestly unfair competition for European producers,” VDMA said

The association said the complaint focuses on “mobile cranes designed for the lifting and moving of materials on land, with a lifting capacity of at least 30 tonnes, mounted on self-propelled vehicles.” Read that as wheeled mobile all terrain and rough terrain cranes and crawler cranes.

Part of the rationale is that “European manufacturers not only meet EU and global environmental and data protection standards, but they have invested to improve substantially the safety and performance of mobile cranes while providing quality and value for their customers. The unfair trade complaint emphasises the need for Europe to preserve the viability of this strategically vital European industry and avoid future dependence on non-EU suppliers.”

The complaint centres around the equipment’s essential value in constructing and maintaining critical infrastructure, power plants, road and rail networks, and so on. This infrastructure is crucial to the supply chain and rapid deployment of emergency services. It also includes the military angle, “Furthermore, mobile cranes are crucial to military operations and provide protection for military personnel during deployment,” VDMA said.

From the manufacturers

Comments made by the four manufacturers run as follows:

“Our European industry welcomes fair competition, but it is patently unfair to compete with products whose selling conditions do not come close to covering the raw materials, energy and production costs of a European mobile crane manufacturer. Chinese manufacturers benefit from a wide range of subsidy mechanisms, which gives them a massively unfair advantage when exporting to the EU.”

Christoph Kleiner, managing director sales, Liebherr-Werk Ehingen, Germany.

“We believe in fair competition and have urged the European Commission to address the material injury to European industry caused by the dumping tactics of Chinese exporting producers. We call on the Commission to restore a level playing field across the EU.”

Aaron Ravenscroft, president and CEO, The Manitowoc Company.

“While we believe in fair competition, the distortive pricing tactics of exporting producers from China warrant the opening of a trade defence investigation. We call on the European Commission to take swift and decisive action to ensure a fair and competitive environment for future production and employment in Europe’s mobile crane manufacturing sector.”

Noriaki Yashiro, CEO, Tadano Europe Holdings.

“Chinese mobile crane producers are increasingly focusing on export markets, with the EU market being a prime target. The combination of spare production capacities in China, existing stocks and substantial Chinese governmental support, means that material injury to the vulnerable European industry will continue if anti-dumping measures are not imposed. These measures need to be taken to ensure fair global competition.”

Erich Sennebogen, shareholder and managing director, Sennebogen Maschinenfabrik.