The UK’s Trade Remedies Authority has said it will reconsider its recommendation to impose a new anti-dumping measure on imports of certain excavators from China.
The current measures, which were accepted by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, came into force on May 14. They affect self-propelled “track-laying”, meaning tracked excavators with a 360° revolving superstructure and with an operating weight of 11tonnes or more, but less than 80,000tonnes).
After submissions from two the manufacturers – Liugong and Caterpillar – the TRA said it will reconsider, meaning review, its original measures.
The government agency is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Business and Trade. It imposes what it calls ‘trade remedies’ – in this case anti-dumping measures – to protect domestic industries against unfair trade practices or unforeseen surges in imports. Trade remedies apply only to goods, not services, according to the TRA. They usually take the form of an additional duty placed on imports of specific products, such as specific excavators.
The trade remedy itself is an “ad valorem tax” whose amount is based on the value of a transaction. The Chinese manufacturers affected are Sany Group with the highest ad valorem of 32.82%, followed by XCMG and Sunward – both at 24.32% - then Liugong at 20.9%.
US manufacturer Caterpillar is also caught up in the trade remedy, thanks to its machines that are made in China. It has an ad valorem of 18.81%.
According to the TRA, the agency’s reconsideration follows submissions received from LiuGong and Caterpillar. LiuGong has claimed that battery electric machines should not be included within the definition of the goods and the tariff imposed. It has asked for battery electric machines to be removed from the description of the goods and all related tariffs.
Meanwhile, Caterpillar questioned the TRA’s calculation of the individual anti-dumping amount that was calculated for it as the sampled cooperating overseas exporter to the original investigation. It asked the TRA to recalculate the injury margin, dumping margin, injury and causal link determination and the form of the anti-dumping measures.
The TRA said it’s reconsideration will consider “whether the applications received necessitate a different recommendation to that originally given to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade”. At the end of the reconsideration process, the TRA will reach a decision either upholding or varying its recommendation and will notify this to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade.
The current trade remedies are the outcome of an investigation launched by the TRA in November 2023. There were concerns that for some years Chinese manufacturers were heavily subsidised by the Chinese state and had increasingly targeted the UK market with cut-price excavators.
At the time of the launch, UK construction and quarrying equipment manufacturer JCB today welcomed the news. “We welcome these investigations by the Trade Remedies Authority," said Graeme Macdonald, JCB chief executive. "There is clear evidence of unfair competitive practices in relation to aggressive and subsidised pricing of tracked excavators imported from China.”
For more details, about the specific remedies, click here.
