Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s chemical giant declares war on Brussels over Chinese dumping

Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos has stepped up its fight against cheap Chinese imports by launching 10 anti-dumping cases at the European Commission.

The chemicals giant is asking Brussels to slap hefty tariffs on cut-price competition from China, where rival manufacturers enjoy much cheaper energy bills and lower carbon costs.

It has also called for similar measures on imports from the US, the Middle East and elsewhere in Asia.

“Sites are closing, carbon-heavy imports are surging and politicians are still asleep at the wheel,” said Tom Crotty, Ineos group director.

“Unless Europe wakes up fast, it won’t just lose its chemical industry – it will lose the foundation of its entire manufacturing sector.”

The EU’s imports of Chinese chemicals surged 8.3pc in the first half of this year.

Ineos says the European industry is “drowning” in cheap imports and is at imminent risk of factory closures and job losses.

It has also warned of a similar threat to Britain. It has already slashed one in five jobs at its Acetyls chemicals plant in Hull this year, blaming Chinese dumping.

The company’s Olefins and Polymers plant at Grangemouth, in Scotland, which makes products used by hundreds of UK plastic companies, is also under threat from Britain’s high energy prices and carbon taxes.

Ineos added that the EU-US trade deal would throw open the door to more American imports, with European manufacturers paying three times more for gas than American producers.

Sir Jim is looking to protect jobs and production at 15 Ineos sites across Europe, which supply chemicals to industries ranging from cars and construction to packaging, defence, electronics, pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Ineos has warned that its German-based production of the chemical BDO – used to make antibiotics, antiretrovirals, statins and vitamin B6 – “has no future” unless Brussels blocks Chinese imports made in Xinjiang Province using coal-fired energy.

The company has urged Brussels to take action by the end of this year – but Sir Jim may struggle to get the speed and scale of response he has demanded.

The European Commission’s review of an anti-dumping application can take up to 15 months. Officials in Brussels are reportedly struggling under a flood of applications this year.

The company had already sought anti-dumping protection for its production of the chemical ABS, telling Brussels that its six plants were suffering losses equivalent to two thirds of their normal profitability.

But Brussels proposed an anti-dumping levy of just 3.7pc. Steve Harrington, the Ineos Styrolution boss, described this rate as “completely ineffective” and branded it an act of “industrial self-harm”.

“Unless Europe acts decisively, we are finished,” he said.

European manufacturers must buy emission permits to offset their use of greenhouse gases in production.

The EU has introduced a carbon border tax, or CBAM, which is supposed to level the playing field between European producers and their overseas rivals.

But an Ineos spokesman said: “CBAM is too complex, too narrow and far too slow to make any real difference.

“It won’t save Europe’s industries, it’ll bury them in paperwork while plants shut down.”

Ineos last month released a study commissioned from Oxford Economics which found that 21 major European chemical plants were in the process of shutting.

The €700bn (£614bn) industry is Europe’s fourth-largest and employs 1.2 million people.

Industry figures showed that European chemicals production shrank 2.4pc in the first half of 2025 from the same period a year earlier, while Chinese factories expanded almost 8pc and American output grew 2.6pc.

The European Commission was contacted for comment.

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