INEOS has welcomed the European Commission’s decision to launch an anti-dumping investigation into PVC imports from China, Taiwan, Mexico and South Korea — but says Europe must urgently overhaul its trade-defence system before more chemical production is lost.

 

The investigation comes after PVC imports into the EU increased by 100% in just 12 months, according to INEOS, as Europe’s chemicals industry faces mounting pressure from rising imports and intensifying global competition.

 

PVC is a strategic material used across critical sectors including water and sanitation, healthcare, construction, food packaging and defence.

 

INEOS says the latest investigation comes at a critical moment for European chemicals manufacturing. In 2025, €34.1 billion of organic chemicals were imported from China. During the first six months of 2026 alone, chemical imports from China increased by 1.1 million tonnes, while the EU’s chemical trade balance deteriorated by 1.2 million tonnes.

 

China is now Europe’s largest source of chemical imports, according to the company.

 

INEOS says the surge in imports is not only putting European manufacturing jobs and investment at risk but also has significant carbon implications.

 

The company argues that China’s chemical industry relies heavily on coal-based energy and raw materials, meaning some Chinese-produced chemicals, including PVC, can have a carbon footprint more than four times that of equivalent European production.

 

INEOS says closing efficient European plants and replacing their output with higher-carbon imports would effectively export both jobs and emissions.

 

The company is also stepping up its broader trade-defence campaign. INEOS says it is working with other European producers through industry consortia and has filed, or is preparing to file, 20 major trade-defence complaints covering other polymers and chemicals with the European Commission — twice the number it had filed as of November 2025.

 

The company says the unprecedented level of activity is necessary to defend manufacturing sites, protect employees and long-term investment, and safeguard the thousands of customers, suppliers and contractors that depend on the European chemicals industry.

 

INEOS points to the United States as an example of how tariffs and other trade measures can be deployed rapidly and at scale to protect domestic industry from unfair trade.

 

It argues that Europe’s system remains constrained by lengthy procedures, limited resources and rules that can leave manufacturers exposed for years before protective measures take effect.

 

INEOS is calling for increased resources for the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Trade, simpler case preparation, faster provisional measures and greater use of safeguard measures to protect Europe’s chemicals and plastics industries.

 

In a recent letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, INEOS Chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe said: "China is overbuilding its entire chemical industry, which it fully recognises is a critical ingredient for its national security. This intentional excess capacity is being 'dumped' into our European marketplace at unsustainable prices. 

 

"The result is an accelerating rate of closure of our chemical industry. Europe must be protected from unfair competition, preferably quicker than at 'snail's pace'. Europe needs to start giving the type of support to industry that our global competitors receive from their governments."

 

INEOS says the growing number of anti-dumping cases shows that Europe’s trade-defence framework needs to be strengthened so strategic industries can respond more quickly to global competition.

 

Steve Dossett, CEO of INEOS Inovyn, said: "Trade defence measures need to move at the speed of today's market distortions, not years after the damage has been done. Europe is becoming increasingly dependent on imported chemicals while its own industry struggles to compete. The Commission has taken an important first step and needs to complete its investigation quickly."

 

The PVC investigation now puts the European Commission under pressure to determine whether imports from the four countries are being dumped and whether they are causing injury to EU producers.

 

For INEOS, the case is part of a much broader battle over the future of European chemical manufacturing — and the company is pressing Brussels to act before further capacity is forced out of the market.