Dumping complaints treble in Australia

Press, 29 June 1983, Page 28

Dumping complaints treble in Australia

NZPA staff correspondent Canberra Australian manufacturers have nearly trebled the number of dumping complaints against foreign companies over the last 18 months, a Customs official said this week. He blamed the economic squeeze for the Australians’ increasing impatience with underpriced or subsidised imports. The official said that New Zealand had not been singled out for attention, although the number of actions against New Zealand companies had risen along with the rest. The official said that about 18 months ago, the dumping branch of Customs had about 30 cases on its books at any one time. Within a year, this had jumped to 80, although the figure had dropped back recently to 65. The sudden boom caused big delays in investigations, and the department had to increase staff by 83 per cent to handle to the increase. Of the 80 cases on hand recently, the official said about 60 per cent had substance, and of that figure, 75 per cent ended up in some sort of Customs action.

Generally dumping duty was imposed, or the exporter was allowed to put up his prices, if the Minister of Customs agreed. “Dumping actions tend to go with economic cycles here and in the rest of the world,” the official said. “Australian manufacturers are generally prepared to live with import competition, but when the squeeze is on, they reach for the dumpng action.” Eleven New Zealand commodities are at present being investigated, according to Customs statistics. The cover sparkplugs, refrigerated containers, tyres, aluminium foil, bulk cement, suspended ceiling systems, stainless steel pipes and tubes, overalls, power transformers, dishwashers, and metal roofing tiles. The actions are generally for dumping. The official said that for Customs to start dumping investigations, there must be evidence of injury to an Australian company, such as the loss of sales, increased imports, loss of market share, job losses or loss of productivity. Closer Economic Relations had added a new dimension to the investigation procedures, with discus-

sion involving the New Zealand Government and exporter built in to help defuse the problem. “New Zealand is not a signatory of the G.A.T.T. anti-dumping agreement, but Australia extends the provisions of that to all countries trading here, whether they are signatories or not,” he said. Once the Minster decided whether to impose duties, they could be retrospective up to seven months. “We have a target date of 17 months from the time of dealing with the first inquiry to when we decide to issue the public announcement that action is being undertaken,” he said. "C.E.R. has helped speed the process up, but New Zealand is not a special target of Australian manufacturers,” the official said.