THE Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has proposed that a new anti-dumping measure of up to 83.5% be applied to imports of excavators from China to the UK.
The TRA, which is a body that investigates whether trade remedy measures are needed to counter unfair trading practices and unforeseen surges of imports, opened its investigation in response to an application from JCB.
Around 180,000 tonnes of excavators were sold in the UK during the period of investigation (July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023), with the UK industry supplying between 10-25% of this volume. The UK industry’s market share decreased by 11% over the ‘injury period’.
The proposed measure would range from 33.03% for sampled producers that took part in the investigation to 83.5% for all other overseas exporters that did not participate.
The TRA found that Chinese exporters were able to use reduced production costs to price their exports below UK competitors who did not benefit from an artificially low-cost base – determining that UK prices were undercut by a rate of 23.39%.
As a result, the TRA has published its initial findings in a statement of essential facts, proposing that an anti-dumping measure be imposed on imports of excavators from China weighing 11 tonnes or more, but less than 80 tonnes.
TRA chief executive, Oliver Griffiths, commented, “Excavator production is an important component of the UK’s advanced manufacturing sector. Our provisional finding is that UK producers are being undercut significantly by dumped imports from China.”
Interested parties now have until 16 December 2024 to comment on the SEF and can do so through the TRA’s public file.
