The Secretary of State for Business and Trade has accepted the Trade Remedies Authority's recommendation to maintain an anti-dumping measure on ceramic tiles from China, except on certain larger subsets of the product that are not produced in the UK.
This measure was among those inherited from the EU system and has been in place for 12 years. The TRA conducted a transition review to establish whether it was still suitable for the UK's needs.
In its Final Recommendation the TRA recommended that the anti-dumping measure on ceramic tiles with a surface area of less than or equal to 3600cm2, with no tile edge greater than 600mm in length, be maintained for a further five years.
However, it recommended that the measure be removed on tiles where the largest surface area exceeds 3600cm2 or those that have an edge equal to or longer than 600mm. The measure would still apply in these cases if the tiles in question have a differential relief on the surface area that exceeds 3mm.
The UK imported over £382 million worth of ceramic tiles in 2021, with 1.5% of these imports coming from China. Chinese imports of tiles to the UK currently face duty rates ranging from 14% to 70%.
Background information:
- The Trade Remedies Authority is the UK body that investigates whether new trade remedy measures are needed to counter unfair import practices and unforeseen surges of imports.
- Dumping occurs when goods are imported into a country and sold at a price that is below their normal value in their country of export.
- Trade remedy investigations were carried out by the EU Commission on the UK's behalf until the UK left the EU. A number of EU trade remedy measures of interest to UK producers were carried across into UK law when the UK left the EU and the TRA is currently reviewing each one to check if it is suitable for UK needs.
