The UK government says it will extend anti-dumping measures on
imports of cold rolled flat steel from China and Russia.
The British Secretary of State for International Trade today
accepted a recommendation from the UK Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) to take
the step.
Cold rolled flat steel (CRFS) is used in manufacturing of
vehicles and domestic appliances, like fridges as well as other goods. It can
be found in consumer products such as radiators, steel drums, domestic
appliances, racking, shelving and metal furniture.
READ MORE
UK
woman's search for Chinese father
Europe's
cost-of-living crisis
As part of its assessment, the TRA found that extending the
anti-dumping measure for a further five years would be in the economic interest
of the UK.
It also concluded that CRFS from China and Russia would likely
be dumped in the UK if the measure were to be removed, causing injury to UK
producers, which produce between 40 and 50 percent of the UK's market, with
annual combined turnover of $797 million.
"For China, we assessed the likelihood of dumping on a
countrywide basis only, rather than an exporter-by-exporter basis. This is due
to the non-cooperation of Chinese exporters, which resulted in no suitable data
being available to the TRA on individual companies," the TRA review said.
"For Russia, we assessed the likelihood of dumping both on
a countrywide basis, and individually for the exporter Severstal (Russian steel
company), who were the only fully cooperating Russian exporter," it added.
China's Ministry of Commerce reported that Chinese producers of
CRFS have limited interest in exporting to the UK owing to its geographic
location and transport costs, and the relatively small demand of the UK
domestic market.
"However, significant volumes of CRFS were imported to the
UK from China prior to the imposition of the present measure; consequently, we
did not consider the geographic distance between China and the UK indicative of
the UK market being unattractive to exporters in China," the TRA report
stated.
The role of the
TRA
The TRA investigates whether trade remedies measures are needed
on imports. Trade remedy investigations were carried out by the EU Commission
on the UK's behalf until the UK left the EU.
Forty-four EU trade remedies measures that were of interest to
UK producers were carried across into UK law when the UK left the EU and the
TRA is reviewing each one to check if it is suitable for UK needs.
Anti-dumping measures counter goods being 'dumped' into
countries at prices below their normal price in their country of origin and are
one of the three types of trade remedies – along with countervailing measures
against subsidies and safeguard measures – that are allowed under World
Trade Organization rules.
"We have assessed the relevant dumping likelihood factors
and determined that it is likely that dumping would continue or recur if the
measure were no longer applied," said the TRA review.
"Whilst some of the factors did not indicate a likelihood
of dumping, a holistic review of the overall facts as we have established them
in the above assessments indicate a likelihood of dumping."