Commission moves fast to impose dumping duties

The federal government has fast-forwarded dumping duties on steel imports from China, issuing a warning to importers following America’s decision to impose tariffs on steel ­imports.

BlueScope’s Port Kembla steelworks.

The federal government has fast-forwarded dumping duties on steel imports from China in a clear warning to importers, following the US decision to impose increased tariffs on global steel ­imports.

In a rare move, the government’s Anti-Dumping Commission this week declared a “preliminary affirmative determination” (PAD) against imports from China of steel clips used to attached plastic pipes for plumbing. This means dumping duties can be imposed before a final decision is made.

The decision by the new Dumping Commissioner David Latina, effective from Thursday, is the first PAD in recent times and comes ahead of scheduled preliminary findings in June and a final decision in August this year.

The move is a clear warning sign to importers of Chinese and other steel, ahead of the expected influx of imports in the wake of the US decision to hike steel tariffs. It comes as the local industry, importers and manufacturers, have combined to lobby the federal government to block imports of fabricated steel structures.

Big construction firms have doubled imports of fully fabricated structures in the last five years to 1.2 million tonnes a year from China and Vietnam.

The structures are akin to giant meccano sets. Recent examples include a Bunnings warehouse in the Brisbane suburb of Oxley and Costco warehouses, ironically sourced from Butler in China. Butler is a division of BlueScope in Australia, which is the centre of the US steel tariff hikes as it exports product to the US for its US steel product operations.

BlueScope is also a big steel manufacturer in the US.

Builders like Brisbane-based McNab import the structures rather than using steel fabricated from Australian or import-sourced product. They affect both local steel producers and downstream fabricators.

The fabricated steel is at the other end of the range from the “interchangeable bolted clipping systems” at the centre of this week’s preliminary dumping decision. The steel clips are used in plumbing for attaching pipes.

The local manufacturer and complainant is Abey Australia which specialises in kitchens and bathroom products. The importer is AC Plumbing Suppliers. The complaint was lodged in June last year.

“I am satisfied that there appear to be sufficient grounds for the publication of a dumping duty notice in respect of the goods exported to Australia from China, and that it is necessary to require and take securities in relation to exports from China to prevent material injury to the Australian industry occurring while the investigation continues,” Mr Latina said in a statement on the Anti-Dumping Commission’s website.

He added: “I am satisfied that to prevent material injury to the Australian industry while the investigation continues, it is necessary for the Commonwealth to require and take securities under section 42 of the Act in respect of interim dumping duties (IDD) that may become payable on the goods imported from China and entered for home consumption in Australia on or after 13 March 2025.”

Mr Latina decided against imposing other preliminary duties because of complaints the imports were subsidised in China.

The federal government has the power to initiate its own dumping complaints rather than waiting for industry to complain.

But the Australian manufacturers, BlueScope and InfraBuild, are typically quick to make complaints.

The steel clip case is unusual in that it involves a specific steel product rather than a lump of “raw” steel. The big fabricated structures are sometimes difficult to impose duties on because you have to show an Australian industry for the product. The small steel product cases are being run by ex-BlueScope executive Chad Uphill.

Originally published as Commission moves fast to impose dumping duties