The European Union imposed five-year tariffs on aluminum foil from China, Brazil and Armenia to help EU producers including Poland’s Grupa Kety SA compete against cheaper imports, Bloomberg informs Sept. 24.

The duties as high as 30% punish Chinese, Brazilian and Armenian exporters for selling the wrapping in the 27-nation EU below cost, a practice known as dumping. The levies target such manufacturers as Shanghai-based Alcoa Aluminum Products Co.

EU producers that also include Novelis U.K. Ltd., Greece’s Symetal Aluminium Foil Industry SA and Bulgaria’s Alcomet suffered “material injury” as a result of dumped imports from China, Brazil and Armenia, the EU said in a decision today in Brussels. The five-year duties follow provisional levies introduced six months ago and will take effect after being published in the Official Journal by Oct. 8.

The tariffs are 17.6% on Companhia Brasileira de Aluminio and any other Brazilian exporters, 13.4% on Armenia’s Rusal-Armenal and any fellow exporters and as much as 30% on Chinese manufacturers.

The EU accepted an offer by Companhia Brasileira de Aluminio to sell at a minimum price in return for an exemption from the anti-dumping duty while rejecting a similar proposal by Rusal-Armenal.

The six-month levies were as high as 42.9% and the EU will refund importers the difference with the lower five-year duties. The trade protection covers aluminum foil in rolls as wide as 650 millimeters (25.6 inches) and a weight exceeding 10 kilograms, with a thickness between 0.008 millimeter and 0.018 millimeter.

China, Brazil and Armenia increased their combined share of the EU market for the product to 49% in the 12 months through June 2008 from 14% in 2005, according to the bloc. China’s share rose to 30.7% from less than 1 percent in the period, while Brazil’s fell to 12.8% from 14.1% and Armenia’s grew to 5.3% from zero, the EU said.