The global economy remains sluggish and overseas export trade is in decline. Many fastening equipment enterprises at home and abroad are currently facing severe challenges. Accelerating economic transformation and structural upgrading is extremely urgent. Expanding overseas markets is undoubtedly an important way out for the current development of the fastening equipment industry. From the fourth quarter of 2011 to the first half of 2012, due to the influence of the objective environment, the development speed of the fastening equipment industry may slow down. However, starting from the third quarter of 2012, with the implementation of policies, the convening of the 18th National Congress, and the upcoming series of development policies, it can promote the further development of the industry. Moreover, it is necessary to adhere to innovation and transformation adjustment. We must continue to closely rely on key industries such as automobiles, new energy, aerospace, shipbuilding, urban transportation, IT, electronic appliances, and construction, accelerate the optimization and upgrading of fastening equipment products, and promote the healthy and stable development of the entire fastening equipment industry. The global fastening equipment market size exceeds 50 billion US dollars. The total output of fastening equipment in China is also expected to reach about 6.8 million tons in 2012. However, compared with manufacturing powerhouses such as the United States and Japan, there is still a considerable gap in the fastening equipment industry in our country. 

The machinery industry is one of the main users of fasteners. Due to the fact that China recognized the crucial role of mechanical foundation components in the machinery industry relatively late and has long lacked investment, the entire industry has a poor foundation, a weak base, and a weak strength. Especially as the level of Chinese main equipment has improved, the bottleneck phenomenon where mechanical foundation components lag behind the main equipment has become increasingly evident. Currently, although the state has provided certain support in terms of technology introduction, technology transformation, and scientific research and development, there is still a considerable gap compared with the current market demand and the foreign level. This is specifically manifested in: 

The product variety is limited, the quality is low, the reliability is poor, and the failure rate is high in the early stage. As a key component product in the mechanical industry, the development of mechanical industry also puts forward higher requirements for fastening components. Domestic ordinary standard fastening components have always been in a state of oversupply, while fastening components (such as high-temperature, special-shaped, titanium-plastic composite, and special-performance fasteners) are in short supply and have to rely on imports. The National Machinery Bureau has listed "ordinary standard fastening components" as a restricted development product, and "high-strength special-shaped fastening components" as a current encouraged development product. With the improvement of national industrialization level and technological progress, the usage of high-strength fastening components has gradually increased. 

High-strength automotive fasteners 

A total of 13 domestic automotive fastener companies were surveyed and investigated. All the surveyed companies have obtained TS16949 certification. On average, each car requires approximately 1,500 fasteners. The total assembly time for bolts on each vehicle is approximately 2.5 to 3.2 hours. It can be seen that the variety and quality of fasteners have a significant impact on the overall level of the mainframe and the quality of the entire vehicle. This article starts from the production process of high-strength threaded fasteners, and analyzes the domestic production of high-strength threaded fasteners and the management of supply quality. The process of high-strength threaded fastener production includes raw material transformation → cold forging → thread processing (rolling or twisting) → heat treatment → surface treatment → sorting and packaging. For grades above 10.9, the hot rolling process after heat treatment is generally adopted. The commonly used steel grades for high-strength bolts in automotive fasteners are 35 steel, 45 steel, and ML35 steel for 8.8 grade bolts; 35CrMo for 10.9 grade bolts. 40Cr; The 12.9-grade bolts are made of 35CrMo, 42CrMo and SCM435. 

The raw materials used for domestic fasteners are mostly in a hot-rolled state, while the steel used for fasteners in countries like Japan is basically in a directly cold-die forging state. Users do not need to pre-treat it, which can reduce costs at the process level. The common failure forms of fasteners include assembly elongation, fatigue fracture, and delayed fracture. The quality of cold-die formed and threaded fasteners (threaded fasteners processed by rolling or twisting, tapping) is not only dependent on the material, but also the forming equipment and thread processing equipment and molds (production processes and their equipment) are the key factors to ensure its quality. Especially in the case of large-scale and multi-variety supply, for automotive fasteners with high processing accuracy, how to ensure product consistency and defect prevention is one of the problems faced by fastener production. The cold-die forming equipment and thread processing equipment of the investigated companies, with domestic equipment accounting for about 40%, Taiwan equipment accounting for 50%, and imported (European, American, and Japanese) equipment accounting for about 10%; common defects include size and geometric tolerance exceedances, head folding, thread streamline breakage, tooth wrinkles and cracks, etc. 

Due to limited funds or other reasons, domestic fastener factories mostly use domestic equipment and Taiwanese equipment to produce automotive fasteners. To ensure the dimensional tolerance and shape position tolerance of high-end fastener products during large-scale production, it is necessary to enhance the online monitoring methods and the level of mold manufacturing. Eliminate defective products during production, thereby ensuring the assembly quality of the main vehicle manufacturers and the vehicle manufacturers. 

About 80% of the surveyed fastener enterprises have heat treatment equipment, and most of them adopt the heat treatment process lines from Taiwan. The equipment for the process line is a continuous belt furnace, which has atmosphere protection and is controlled by a computer for the atmosphere, temperature and process parameters. The high-strength fastener industry is a highly competitive industry. To have a thorough and objective analysis of the technology and market of the high-strength fastener industry, we need to start from the following aspects: 

The competitive landscape of the domestic high-strength fastener industry, the industry policies for high-strength fasteners, the technical standards and regulations for high-strength fastener products - these are all aspects that have been extensively studied and researched by many domestic research institutions. There are also many institutions that have been engaged in long-term research and studies in this industry. 

Anti-dumping ruling 

China is a major producer of carbon steel fasteners such as screws, nuts and bolts in the world, and the European Union is the main market for these products. In January 2009, the European Union decided to impose anti-dumping duties ranging from 26.5% to 85% on Chinese carbon steel fastener products. On July 31 of the same year, China filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement mechanism regarding the relevant legislation and anti-dumping measures of the European Union. On July 15, 2011, the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization released a report ruling that China had won the trade dispute with the European Union over fasteners. The head of the Treaty and Law Department of the Ministry of Commerce of China expressed his welcome to the ruling on the 16th and said that the victory of China in this case is of great significance. It will help improve the competitive environment for Chinese enterprises in markets including the European Union and will also enhance the confidence of WTO members in the WTO rules and the multilateral trading system. "This is not only a victory for China's industry, but also a victory for the WTO rules," the head said. 

In its ruling report released on the 15th, the WTO Appellate Body determined that the 9(5) clause of the EU's "Basic Regulations on Anti-Dumping" regarding the separate tax rate violated WTO rules. At the same time, the Appellate Body overturned some of the rulings of the expert group and supported China's position, ruling that the EU's anti-dumping measures against Chinese carbon steel fasteners such as screws, nuts, and bolts also violated WTO rules in terms of domestic industry determination, normal value, and fair comparison of export prices. A responsible person from the Legal Affairs Department of the Ministry of Commerce of China stated that the EU is one of the WTO members that has initiated anti-dumping investigations against Chinese products. The 9(5) clause of the EU's "Basic Regulations on Anti-Dumping" regarding the separate tax rate has long caused unfair treatment to Chinese enterprises. He said that China hopes that the EU will promptly abolish the legislation and discriminatory anti-dumping measures that are inconsistent with WTO rules, treat Chinese export enterprises fairly, and effectively safeguard free trade and fair competition.