Anti-Dumping Action:

There has been a lot of news articles recently about anti-dumping action taken by the Australian Government, through the Anti-Dumping Commission, against imports from overseas most notably China. On the flip side there has been anti-dumping action against Australian exports into both China and Canada.

So what is dumping?

Under WTO rules, dumping occurs when an exporter sells goods to a foreign market at prices that are less than what it sells the same goods in its domestic market.  Adjustments are made for issue such as transport, level of trade, credit terms and packaging.

Dumping can also occur where the price charged by a supplier is artificially lowered due to subsidies provided by the overseas government to the exporting company. This could be subsidies in utility supply, transport costs, raw material costs or any other input into the manufacture of the goods in question.

Is dumping illegal?

No dumping of goods is not illegal. In fact supplying goods at a lower price can be beneficial to the receiving country and assist in lowering costs to consumers and/or projects.

So what is the problem with dumping?

Dumping becomes a problem where there is a local industry which produces goods which are similar to those being dumped AND the dumped goods are causing material injury to that local industry. Therefore, to impose dumping duties a government needs to not only confirm the goods are dumped based on the above definition, they must also establish that the dumped goods are causing material injury to the local industries.

How high can the dumping duties be?

The dumping duties imposed do not have any limits or ceiling to them. The government has the right to impose dumping duties on imported goods, to the point that the imported goods pricing is no longer causing material injury to the locally goods. As an example, there is currently dumping duties on goods into Australia that range from 3% to 124% of the FOB or invoice value.

What we have seen over the past 3-5 years is Australian Border Force target goods which are subject to dumping duties through their audit regime. This has led to the recovery of millions of dollars of unpaid dumping duties which were not paid at the time the goods were imported.

If you are concerned you may be importing goods that should be subject to dumping duties please speak to us urgently. We can analyse your goods, provide recommendations, and assist you through the process.

Stay safe and should you have any queries please contact us directly.