TRA reconsiders its recommendation on Aluminium Extrusion measures
The TRA has begun a reconsideration of its recommendation on anti-dumping measures of imports of Aluminium Extrusions from China.
The Trade Remedies Authority has today (Wednesday 22 February) initiated a reconsideration of its recommendation on anti-dumping measures of imports of Aluminium Extrusions from China.
Reconsiderations are an established part of the UK’s tax regime, with many different arms of the Government incorporating them as part of their standard operating procedures. They are one of the main ways businesses can continue to make their case once a decision that affects them has been made. If applicants meet the criteria required, a reconsideration will always be undertaken.
At the end of the reconsideration process, the TRA will reach a reconsidered decision either upholding or varying its recommendation and will notify this to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade.
The initiation today follows a submission received from a UK producer requesting that the TRA reconsider its recommendation. The UK producer has provided TRA with new industry information that could affect the TRA’s original findings.
About the TRA’s original recommendation
During its original investigation, the TRA determined that damage to the UK industry was occurring, having found clear evidence of price undercutting, indicating that UK businesses were struggling to compete with the dumped imports. It therefore recommended that a new anti-dumping duty be applied to imports of Aluminium Extrusions from China to the UK. The TRA also gave a final negative determination on certain types of large aluminium exclusions (meaning that the measure on these products will not be extended), as the TRA found no evidence that they are produced in the UK.
In December, the Secretary of State accepted the TRA’s recommendation that a new anti-dumping duty be applied to imports of Aluminium Extrusions from China to the UK and that duties on large Aluminium Extrusions should not be applied.
Following the Secretary of State’s decision, the TRA received a submission from one domestic producer asking the TRA to reconsider the original recommendation.
The grounds for requesting a reconsideration are based on the applicant’s claims that the dumping duties imposed do not accurately reflect the level of injurious dumping. The applicant also considers that the measure should not have excluded large extrusions. The applicant in this case did not request that that the Economic Interest Test in this case be performed again.
The TRA’s reconsideration will consider the grounds submitted within the rules set out in the UK’s regulatory framework and the underlying World Trade Organisation obligations. It will determine whether the application received necessitates a different recommendation to that originally given to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade.
Background
- The Trade Remedies Authority is the UK body that investigates whether new trade remedy measures are needed to counter unfair import practices and unforeseen surges of imports.
- The UK trade remedies regime is set by the Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) Act 2018 and the Trade Act 2021, which operationalise the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements covering trade remedies.
- Reconsiderations are part of the process that parties can use to ask the TRA to look again at its decisions. Many government departments, non-departmental public bodies and other government agencies (including decision-making bodies on taxation and benefits) provide for interested parties to request an internal reconsideration of a decision as part of their standard processes.
- For a reconsideration to be undertaken by the TRA, applicants must meet the following criteria:
- set out the grounds for their application
- explain the outcome they are looking for
- demonstrate that they are eligible to apply for a reconsideration of this decision.
- If an application does not meet any or all of the three criteria set out above, the TRA will review this and may ultimately reject an application.
- Further information on the TRA’s process for reconsiderations can be found in the TRA’s online guidance.
- Anti-dumping measures are one of the three types of trade remedies allowed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). These measures place duties on products when they are dumped – unfairly imported into a country at prices below what they would be sold for in the country where they are made. The other two measures are countervailing measures which counter unfair subsidies on imported goods and safeguard measures which address unforeseen surges of imports.
Notes on this case
- The TRA was asked to investigate imports of Aluminium Extrusions from the People’s Republic of China by UK manufacturers of this product. These products, which are mainly aluminium bars, tubes and pipes, are often referred to as ‘Aluminium Extrusions’ because extrusion (the process of producing a product by forcing the material through a small hole) is the most common manufacturing process, although the products may also be made using processes such as rolling, forging and casting.