JCB Chief Executive Graeme Macdonald has welcomed a proposed anti-dumping measure on imported excavators from China following an investigation prompted by a request from the Rocester-based company.
The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has proposed that a new duty of up to 83.5 per cent be applied to imports of excavators from China weighing between 11 tonnes and 80 tonnes – which could benefit UK excavator producers by up to £3.4 million per year.
The proposed measure would range from 33.03 per cent for sampled producers that took part in the investigation to 83.5 per cent for all other overseas exporters that did not participate.
The investigation was opened in response to an application from JCB, and found that UK manufacturers were being ‘undercut significantly’ by imports from China.
The TRA estimated that during the period of investigation, UK excavator producers employed around 900 workers and had a turnover of around £500 million.
Around 180,000 tonnes of excavators were sold in the UK during the period of investigation, with the UK industry supplying between 10 to 25 per cent of this volume. The UK industry’s market share decreased by 11 per cent over the injury period.
The TRA found that Chinese exporters were able to use reduced production costs to price their exports below UK competitors who did not benefit from an artificially low-cost base. It determined that UK prices were undercut by a rate of 23.39 per cent.
JCB Chief Executive Graeme Macdonald said: “We welcome the outcome of the anti-dumping investigation by the Trade Remedies Authority.
“The TRA finding that Chinese exporters of excavators are using unfair practices to price their exports below their UK competitors comes as no surprise to us.
“The evidence has been out there in our home market for quite some time. As a result, the TRA’s proposal for a new anti-dumping measure in response to this anti-competitive behaviour is an important first step in levelling the playing field in the UK, which has been distorted for far too long by Chinese exporters.
“We await the TRA’s final determination and hope this matter reaches its conclusion sooner rather than later.”
TRA Chief Executive Oliver Griffiths added: “Excavator production is an important component of the UK’s Advanced Manufacturing sector. Our provisional finding is that UK producers are being undercut significantly by dumped imports from China.”
