BRUSSELS — European coffin manufacturers are joining forces to ask Brussels to investigate Chinese imports, warning that low prices and potential customs loopholes are threatening an industry built around one of the continent’s most predictable markets: death. A group of manufacturers — which until now had no dedicated lobby representation — has formed a coalition and met with European Commission officials, including from its trade department, the initiative’s organizers told POLITICO. The group is preparing an anti-dumping complaint — a request for the EU to investigate whether Chinese coffin makers are selling their products in Europe at unfairly low prices.
The industry says the damage is already being felt. Over the past five years roughly a quarter of European coffin manufacturers have shut down, their numbers falling from about 120 to 90, according to Folco Ciulli, a consultant helping coordinate the complaint. The push follows an appeal by a group of EU lawmakers to Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič last year.
The MEPs raised concerns about Chinese competition, and were told the industry could submit a formal trade complaint. They declined to confirm meetings with the manufacturers, saying contacts with industry over potential trade defense complaints are confidential. At the heart of the industry’s case is a stark price difference.
According to manufacturers’ estimates, producing a coffin in China costs roughly one-third as much as an equivalent product in Italy, even when the same type of wood is used. The coalition — which has yet to agree on a name for itself — flags several factors it believes give Chinese producers an advantage, including state subsidies, export-related tax benefits, lower labor costs and cheaper timber. It also argues that Chinese manufacturers benefit from preferential raw-material supply chains, and that higher U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods have helped redirect production toward Europe.
But cheap prices alone don’t constitute dumping under EU trade rules. To secure anti-dumping duties, European manufacturers must provide evidence that Chinese producers are selling coffins in the EU below their established normal value, that the EU industry is suffering material injury, and that dumped imports are responsible for that injury. The coalition is therefore collecting detailed information on production costs, raw materials, labor and factory-gate prices to compare equivalent coffins manufactured in China and Europe.
European coffin manufacturers are also examining a hypothesis that some coffins entering the EU from China are not being categorized as such by customs authorities. Emiliano Inguscio, a mathematician hired by the industry to analyze trade and production data, said his calculations had identified an unexplained discrepancy equivalent to around 30,000 coffins a year in Italy. Because demand for coffins is relatively predictable and closely linked to mortality, he argues, significant discrepancies could indicate that some imports are not being properly recorded.
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