Europe must not let itself be guided by fear

Semantics are often the cause of misunderstandings, and this is true of the debate in the European Union over whether or not to grant China market economy status.

When China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, it agreed to a 15-year transitional period during which other WTO members were allowed to apply the "nonmarket economy methodology" in anti-dumping procedures concerning China.

Under this methodology, the trade officials of the EU Commission are entitled to estimate by analogy the domestic production cost and prices of export products, instead of basing their investigation on domestic market prices.