Government accepts recommendation to keep measures on imports of Continuous Glass Fibre from China
The Government today upheld the UK TRA's recommendation that anti-dumping and countervailing measures on Continuous Glass Fibre from China be kept.
The UK Government has today (31 January 2023) decided to retain existing measures on imports of Continuous Glass Fibre from China, as recommended by the TRA. This means that the UK industry for glass fibre, predominantly based in Wigan, will continue to be protected from injury caused by dumped and subsidised imports of glass fibre from China for another five years from 31 January 2021. Glass fibres are used in the creation of wind turbine blades, which are integral to the UK Government’s strategy to boost the country’s energy security. They are also used in such industries as transport (automotive, marine, aerospace), building and construction and electric/electronics, as well as the manufacturing of various consumer goods.
Investigation findings
After carrying out a transition review to assess if the measures on these imports were needed, the TRA recommended that both countervailing and anti-dumping measures be kept. The TRA found that imported products from China accounted for 8.44% of total UK imports in 2020, making China the fifth largest source of imports of continuous filament glass fibre products.
The TRA recommended that the measures on some continuous filament glass fibre products be maintained at their current levels until 30 January 2026 – this is five years after the date when the countervailing measure would have expired if no transition review had been carried out (31 January 2021).
However, the TRA determined that mats made of glass fibre should be excluded from the measures. While mats of glass fibre produced in China are bought by multiple UK importers, the TRA found no evidence of UK production and there is no suggestion that mats imported from China would compete against other, domestically-produced, forms of glass fibre.
Background information
- The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) is the independent UK body, established in June 2021, as the first non-departmental public body of the Department for International Trade, that investigates whether trade remedy measures are needed to counter unfair import practices and unforeseen surges of imports. Read more about the TRA’s mission in its Business Plan.
- Anti-dumping duties allow a country or union to take action against goods sold at less than their normal value, which is defined as the price for ‘like goods’ sold in the exporter’s home market.
- Countervailing measures address imports which have benefited from a government subsidy that’s countervailable in their country of origin. Trade remedies can only counter certain types of subsidies and these are known as countervailable subsidies. You can find out more in our online guidance on subsidy investigations.
- Trade remedy investigations were carried out by the EU Commission on the UK’s behalf until the UK left the EU. A number of EU trade remedy measures of interest to UK producers were carried across into UK law when the UK left the EU and the TRA is currently reviewing each one to assess whether it is suitable for UK needs.