Subject: Unfair competition from Chinese pushchair manufacturers – need for EU action to protect the internal market
The European pushchair industry is in a critical juncture as a result of unfair Chinese competition and a lack of EU action.
Almost all pushchairs produced in the EU come from the region of Częstochowa in the province of Silesia, where the entire supply chain is concentrated, making us independent of foreign ties and lowering our carbon footprint. These companies are SMEs – family-run businesses on which the competitiveness of the European economy is based and which should be given special protection by the EU.
The Chinese Government uses protectionist policies to subsidise domestic producers at every stage of production and distribution. Chinese companies benefit from low tariffs to the EU (2.7%), while exports to China are subject to 25% tariffs. In view of consumers’ economic patriotism, Chinese companies are labelling their products, which are merely assembled in the EU, as European. After the Russian invasion, European producers lost their position in the eastern markets and Chinese companies took their place.
In this connection:
1. Will the Commission introduce rules on the labelling of products as made in the EU so that they do not include products that are merely assembled in the EU?
2. Is the Commission planning to take action with a view to protecting the internal market by compensating for the unfair competition from Chinese companies and, in this connection, is it planning to open an investigation into the operations of Chinese pushchair manufacturers?
3. Does the Commission plan to introduce rules to mitigate the effects of the closure of eastern markets for European pushchair manufacturers?
Submitted: 5.12.2024
Joint answer given by Mr Šefčovič on behalf of the European Commission (10 April 2025)
Pushchairs, whether imported or manufactured in the EU, are not subject to origin marking. The Union Customs Code (UCC) establishes that imported products originate in the country where they underwent their last substantial, economically justified transformation (1).
Usually, simple assembly does not confer origin. Were the Commission to propose a label certifying EU origin, it could take into consideration the origin criteria set out in the UCC.
The EU has several trade defence instruments, such as anti-dumping or anti-subsidy duties, to protect European production against unfair international trade.
EU industry can contact the complaints office of the Directorate-General for Trade for advice (2). The increase of the EU customs duties for pushchairs may not be the appropriate policy tool, especially since the maximum bound rates authorised for the EU under its World Trade Organisation commitments for pushchairs correspond to the applied most favoured nation rates.
On 17 May 2023 the Commission proposed a comprehensive Customs Reform package (3) to strengthen EU customs’ capacity to monitor the import of goods from third countries.
This includes the creation of a new EU Customs Authority and an EU Customs Data Hub, which will centralise data to improve, amongst others, targeting of unsafe products.
The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) (4) introduces a digital product passport to store sustainability information on products, accessible electronically, helping economic actors take informed decisions and proving regulatory compliance.
The first ESPR working plan, prioritising products, will be adopted in April 2025, but pushchairs are not prioritised (5).
1 ∙ ⸱ Article 60(2) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October 2013 laying down the Union Customs Code.
2 ∙ ⸱ https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/glossary/single-entry-point
3 ∙ ⸱ Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Union Customs Code and the European Union Customs Authority,
and repealing Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52023PC0258 4 ∙ ⸱ Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for sustainable products, amending Directive (EU) 2020/1828 and Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 and repealing Directive 2009/125/EC, https://eur- lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/oj/eng 5 ∙ ⸱
Based on the Joint Research Centre’s preparatory work, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation: Study on new product priorities, https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC138903