On 8 May 2019 the then Minister for Industry, Science and Technology (the Minister) imposed anti-dumping measures on exports of PVC Flat Electrical Cables (PVC Cables) exported to Australia from China. On 3 September 2019 Electra Cables (Aust) Pty Ltd (Electra) applied for judicial review at the Federal Court in respect of the Minister’s decision concerning exports to Australia by
Guilin International Wire and Cable Co Ltd (Guilin).
On 13 February 2020, the Federal Court directed that the decision concerning Guilin be set aside and reconsidered.
The Department of Industry, Science, Energy, and Resources was tasked by the Minister to reconsider the Commissioner’s findings and recommendations as contained in the original Report No. 469.
The Department consulted with interested parties and made recommendations to the Minister. On 29 August 2022, the Minister accepted the Department’s recommendations and imposed interim dumping duties (IDD) on exports of PVC Cables by Guilin to Australia at the rate of 2.8 percent. All remaining Chinese exporters of the goods are subject to the dumping and subsidy rates* contained in Report No. 469.
The re-imposition of anti-dumping measures on the largest exporter of PVC Cables to Australia is welcomed by the Australian manufacturers of PVC cables. Following the Federal Court decision of 13 February 2020, the measures that applied to exports by Guilin to Australia were suspended. The anti-dumping measures, therefore, have not applied to exports by Guilin for more than two-and-a-half years (due to delays with the reconsideration inquiry).
The Australian Cablemakers Association (ACA) and its members support fair trade principles. The Minister’s decision will ensure that imports of PVC Cable from China will be at non-dumped prices and enable the local manufacturing industry to compete on a fair basis. This will assist the industry to make future investment decisions based on fairly priced competitive imports.
The Australian PVC Cable producers support the imposition of the measures on Guilin and will closely monitor the effectiveness of the measures over the remainder of the five-year duration period to May 2024.
Sandy Mennie
Secretary
Australian Cablemakers Association
*IDD rate for Chinese exporters other than Guilin were at 33.2 percent. The subsidy rate was 3.1 percent for Nanyang and 3.7 percent for all other Chinese exporters.
