Dumping

It's important for exporters to understand Australia's anti-dumping laws . The authority handling dumping in Australia is  the Trade Measures Branch of the Australia Customs and Border Protection Service.

What is Dumping ?

Dumping  occurs when goods are exported to Australia at a price below the goods' "Normal Value." Normal value is usually based on the domestic price of the goods in the exporting country.

Dumping  is a form of price differentiation between markets. Dumping is not prohibited under international trade agreements. However, remedial action may be taken if  dumping  causes (  or threatens to cause ) injury  to  an industry in the importing country.

What is a Subsidy?

A subsidy is financial assistance (  or income or price support ) paid by the government of an exporting country that benefits its exporters in exporting goods to the importing country, either directly or indirectly. If the effect of the subsidy causes  (or threatens to cause ) injury to the industry of the importing country, then remedial action can be taken.

What happens when a Measure is imposed?

Dumping measures  are imposed on imported goods to offset the injury effect   in the form of an “ Interim Dumping Duty  (IDD)”. ( Interim )   dumping duties  and/or  countervailing  duties  are usually imposed for a period of five years (note:  the duty  imposed to  counteract  subsidies is called a “ Countervailing Duty ” and is usually imposed for a period of five years.

Another remedy for imposing  duty is for the Minister  ( of Customs  in Australia) to accept the price set by the exporter. In other words, the exporter agrees to the value of their exported goods being at or above the minimum  export price  ( equal to the normal value or a subsidy) . This remedy is also usually imposed for a five-year period.

Information regarding Australian dumping can be downloaded via  the Australian Customs website here .