Telecom Lead Europe: Sweden’s Ericsson has come
out in support of its rival Chinese telecom equipment vendors Huawei and ZTE
and said that it opposed to a planned probe by the EU commission into claims
that Huawei and ZTE may be selling products in Europe below cost.
Any plans by the commission to bring an anti-dumping case
against the firms that could potentially lead to punitive import tariffs being
imposed against them was the wrong way to proceed,” said Ulf Pehrsson, head
government and industry relations at Ericsson.
EU to take action against Huawei and ZTE over illegal
government subsidies
The European Union said that will begin a major trade case
against these telecom equipment makers, arguing that they have benefited from
illegal government subsidies.
The union alleged that these companies have obtained illegal
government subsidies and sold products in the EU below cost. The union has also
told member states that it had been gathering evidence for an anti-dumping case
against Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp.
“Ericsson is a strong supporter of free trade and we
don’t believe in this type of unilateral measure. The EU faces the risk of
initiating “a negative spiral” by targeting individual Chinese
firms,” Pehrsson added.
Ericsson, the world’s biggest mobile network equipment
maker, as well as rivals Nokia-Siemens Networks, and Paris-based
Alcatel-Lucent have all seen their profit margins squeezed by competition
from Huawei and ZTE, which have grown rapidly to become global suppliers of
telecommunications equipment and services.
Such a step would be unique, given that the commission has
never before started a trade investigation without having first received a
complaint. The EU commission is acting on its own initiative here, without
having received a request for action from the industry,” Pehrsson added.
editor@telecomlead.com
