The low tariff level could make the UK a dumping ground for cheap, high-carbon products, and Hydro will continue to work with the UK government to seek a reconsideration.

On December 16, 2022, the British Department for International Trade, on the basis of findings from the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA), confirmed that imports are being dumped into the UK at unfair prices which causes injury to domestic producers. Therefore, they have decided to impose definitive anti-dumping duties of 15.4 percent on imports of Chinese aluminium extrusions to the UK. This is an increase from the 10.1 percent calculated in the final intended measures detailed in the statement of essential facts published in May 2022.

“We welcome the decision to find in favor of UK aluminium producers and for increasing the trade remedies that will be implemented, but we are surprised that the view of market distortions in China as well as the tariff level differ significantly from the view of the UK’s OECD trading partners. This invites foreign companies to continue selling aluminium extrusions into the UK at prices below fair value. We, in Hydro, take the decision into account when planning investments for the coming years, but we will also continue to work with the UK government and the TRA to seek a reconsideration,” says Roger Ablett, Managing Director of Extrusions at Hydro Aluminium UK.

The low level of duties recommended by the TRA appear to have not found the same levels of market distortions in China as the dumping investigators in Australia, Canada, the US and the EU have.

The inadequate anti-dumping duties will not only threaten the domestic aluminium industry in the UK, but they will also incentivize imports of carbon intensive Chinese extrusions. Aluminium extrusions produced in the UK have an average carbon footprint which is three times lower than those produced in China. Aluminium is used in many applications that are necessary in the UK’s green transition, like electric vehicles and batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, and energy security infrastructure.

The anti-dumping investigation began after the complete withdrawal of the UK from the EU on January 1, 2021, when the UK market ceased to be covered by EU trade defense measures. This is the first new anti-dumping case that has been brought forward in the UK, and the TRA investigation covered aluminium bars, rods, profiles, tubes, and pipes originating from China, which enter the UK.

“We stand ready to support our industrial customers in developing innovations and supplying them with our low-carbon aluminium extrusions. However, we are still requesting the British government to install a level playing field,” says Ablett.

The tariffs are effective from December 17, 2022.