INEOS files ten anti-dumping cases urging EU action to protect Europe’s chemical and manufacturing industries from cheap imports and rising deindustrialisation.
INEOS has initiated an aggressive trade action, filing ten significant anti-dumping cases with the European Commission in a bid to safeguard Europe’s chemical and manufacturing sectors from an escalating crisis. The company warns that a torrent of low-priced imports from Asia, the Middle East, and the United States, coupled with high domestic energy costs and stringent carbon levies, is driving Europe’s industrial base toward potential collapse and threatening thousands of skilled jobs.
According to INEOS, the situation has become unsustainable as cheap, carbon-intensive imports increasingly displace local production. The European Chemical Trade Association (CEFIC) reported that imports from China alone rose by 8.3% in the first half of 2025, intensifying the pressure on European producers who must bear steep energy and carbon costs. The company further cautions that recent EU-US trade concessions could worsen the imbalance by removing remaining protections against dumped products.
The ten trade cases cover key materials such as PVC, MEG, BDO, PTA, ABS, polyethylene glycols, butyl acetate, and polyolefins — products integral to Europe’s automotive, defence, construction, electronics, packaging, and pharmaceutical industries. Produced across 15 INEOS facilities and sustaining more than 5,000 direct jobs, these materials are essential for vital sectors, including medical devices, medicines, housing, transportation, and infrastructure. The company argues that losing domestic capacity for these materials would jeopardize Europe’s entire manufacturing foundation.
INEOS has also joined its customers in broader anti-dumping actions targeting materials like PET, as the effects of unfair trade ripple through entire value chains — from raw materials to finished consumer goods. A surge in trade defence filings across Brussels reflects a mounting sense of urgency as industries strive to preserve European production capacity.
Steve Harrington, CEO of INEOS Styrolution, criticized the EU’s lenient response: “This is industrial self-harm. While the US and China protect their industries, Europe tolerates unfair ABS imports from South Korea and Taiwan, putting six European ABS plants and a thousand jobs at risk.” He pointed out that despite Commission data showing losses equivalent to 67% of normal profitability, the proposed 3.7% anti-dumping duty is far too weak to restore balance.
Andrew Brown, CEO of INEOS Enterprises, warned that critical materials such as BDO — essential for pharmaceuticals and medical devices — are also under threat, describing Europe’s inaction as “reckless.” INEOS is urging the European Commission to reinforce trade defences and allocate adequate resources by year-end to prevent irreversible deindustrialisation.
Tom Crotty, INEOS Group Director, summed up: “If Europe fails to act decisively, it won’t just lose its chemical industry — it will lose the foundation of its entire manufacturing economy.”
