UK’s TRA proposes to re-include galvanized tubes in antidumping measures

The UK’s Trade Remedies Authority has proposed to re-include galvanized tubes in goods covered by a trade remedy measure on welded tubes and pipes from China and Belarus, as it had been established that this product was produced within the UK, it said Oct. 12.

If implemented, the change would mean that imports of this product would be subject to a tariff imposed at the border, along with other types of welded tubes and pipes covered by this measure.

In August 2021, the UK government approved the TRA’s recommendation to no longer apply antidumping measures on imports of certain types of welded tubes and pipes from Russia, although it maintained the measures on imports of these products from China and Belarus.

At the time, the scope of the measure was also changed to exclude one of the four types of product covered by the measure, as it said it was not manufactured within the UK.

The measures, which were inherited from the EU, cover welded tubes and pipes of iron or non-alloy steel, or WTP, plated or coated with zinc commonly used for heating and plumbing systems in the construction industry.

The TRA found at the time that if the measures were removed, producers in Belarus and China would likely dump these products and cause harm to UK industry, but that Russian producers would not.

Tata Steel UK, a main domestic producer of these pipes, then applied in September 2021 for the TRA to reconsider its decision, saying that it did produce non-threaded WTP plated or coated with zinc and, as a result, wanted galvanized tubes to be included in the measure.

It also said if the antidumping amount was “sufficient” to offset dumping, then the TRA need not consider whether that measure was “necessary” to offset dumping and asked that Russia remain subject to the antidumping measures due to the high likelihood of recurred dumping.

The TRA had investigated these three grounds and said it agreed that these pipes were produced in the UK, but it disagreed with Tata’s “submissions regarding the TRA’s ability to carry out assessments relating to both the necessity and the sufficiency of a measure, and its assertion that conducting a dumping likelihood analysis in the original transition review involved an error of law.”

It also disagreed with Tata that Russia should remain subject to the antidumping measures.

The TRA, therefore, recommended that CN code 7306 30 72, which covers galvanized pipes for use in the gas industry, be included in the antidumping measures and it upheld the original decision to exclude Russia from the antidumping measures.

The TRA said its recommendation would be available from Oct. 12 for 14 days to allow interested parties to consider the findings, with the final recommendation to then go to the Secretary of State for International Trade Kemi Badenoch.

Platts assessed the weekly UK hot-rolled coil price at GBP725/mt DDP West Midlands Oct. 6, down 17.4% from the start of 2022, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.

— Jacqueline Holman