Chinese light bulbs cause EU row

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's trade and industry chiefs were at loggerheads on Tuesday over a bid to scrap the bloc's anti-dumping duties on energy-saving light bulbs imported from China, a day before a meeting on the issue.

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson wants to eliminate the duties and has the support of most European producers, led by Dutch electronics group Philips, which use China as a source of cheap, energy-efficient bulbs.

But Mandelson is being blocked by Enterprise Commissioner Guenter Verheugen, industry officials said.

Verheugen has expressed concern about job losses at German producer Osram, a unit of Siemens. It imports less from China than its rivals, European Commission officials say.

The German commissioner wants a compromise under which the duties would be extended for two years or another period shorter than the usual five-year duration of such measures, people familiar with the issue said.

The fight is set to come to a head on Wednesday when a full meeting of the European Commission meets to agree a formal position on the issue.

The proposal will then have to be put to EU countries.

A narrow majority of member states, at an informal discussion in July, either backed Mandelson's plan to scrap the duties or said they would not oppose it.

Philips criticized the new attempt to extend the duties, which add up to 66 percent on the value of imports, saying they would hurt Europe's strategy to save power and fight climate change.

"Continuing duties would be a backward, protectionist move to safeguard the short-term interests of one single company," it said in a statement.

Mandelson has often struggled to balance the interests of Europe's importers and retailers, who increasingly rely on cheap goods from Asia, and those of local manufacturers who regularly accuse China and other countries of breaking trade rules.

Trade experts say the light bulbs are a test case as Mandelson seems to have given more weight than in the past to interests of EU companies that produce or source goods in China.