Australia has opened continuation inquiry 710 into existing anti-dumping and countervailing measures on specified hollow structural sections from China, Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan.
For Australian importers, the immediate issue is not whether every steel tube now attracts a new duty. The inquiry did not create a universal new rate. The practical issue is whether the exact goods, manufacturer, exporter and supply route match the current Australian measures—and whether that exposure has been reflected correctly in the landed cost.
What changed on 3 August 2026
The Anti-Dumping Commission initiated continuation inquiry 710 on 3 August. It is examining whether the current measures should continue beyond their scheduled expiry.
The Commission can ultimately recommend leaving the measures unchanged, varying how they apply, removing particular exporters or goods, or allowing them to expire. None of those outcomes is settled yet. Until a formal decision changes the position, importers should work from the current Hollow Structural Sections Dumping Commodity Register.
The first importer questionnaire deadline has already passed. Parts B and C are due 24 August, Parts D and E on 31 August, and initial submissions on 9 September. Importers directly affected by the inquiry should not assume a late response will be accepted; they should contact the case team about their own position.
Which steel tube and hollow sections may be affected
The current goods description covers specified electric-resistance-welded carbon-steel pipe and tube, including circular, oval, square and rectangular hollow sections.
Products can include galvanised and non-galvanised finishes. The published dimensional boundaries include:
- circular products with an outside diameter greater than 21 mm and no more than 165.1 mm; and
- oval, square or rectangular products with a perimeter no greater than 1,277.3 mm.
The current description also addresses specified hollow sections with processed ends or holes. There are technical exclusions and ministerial exemptions for narrowly defined products.
The tariff code is a starting point, not the final answer
The Commission lists tariff classifications and statistical codes on the case page, but the register expressly warns that those codes are provided for convenience. A listed code can contain goods outside the measure, and subject goods may sometimes be entered under another code.
A defensible scope check therefore needs the imported product as presented at the border: material, ERW construction, cross-section, dimensions, wall thickness, finish, ends, holes and any claimed exemption. A supplier description such as “galvanised frame,” “finished component” or “steel fabrication” is not enough by itself.
Why the manufacturer and exporter can change the duty treatment
The current register does not apply one published treatment to every Chinese supplier. It assigns different Dumping Specification Numbers to named manufacturer, exporter and supplier routes.
For example, the register currently shows published effective rates of 9.4% for several named Chinese routes, 30.4% for the listed Huludao route and 48.3% for all other Chinese exporters.
Those figures are not safe plug-in percentages for a purchase order. The measures use combination methods with confidential components, and the register warns that actual liability may be higher than the published effective rate. The transaction also needs the correct export price, specification number and declaration inputs.
A trader cannot simply borrow a factory's treatment
A quotation may identify one factory, while the commercial invoice, export declaration or bill of lading identifies a trading company or another exporter. The current register recognises particular direct and indirect supply relationships, and the Commission has a formal process for linking an intermediary supplier to a named exporter.
Before relying on a favourable exporter treatment, obtain the complete legal names of the manufacturer, exporter and every trader in the chain. Reconcile those entities against the register and the final shipping documents. A brand name, English nickname or supplier assurance is not sufficient.
This same principle appears in other Australian trade-remedy measures, but the product rules and exporter tables differ. OPL's aluminium extrusion anti-dumping guide provides a useful comparison without replacing the hollow-sections assessment.
Why a low delivered price can still be wrong
The Australian Border Force says importers must self-assess whether goods are subject to dumping or countervailing measures, lodge the import declaration and pay the applicable treatment.
Anti-dumping and countervailing duties are additional to ordinary customs duty and indirect taxes. They can still apply where an ordinary tariff preference is available under a free trade agreement.
That makes a landed or DDP quotation an input to the assessment—not evidence that the assessment is correct. The importer and broker still need the product description, exporter route and current register treatment. The companion article Does DDP Cover Anti-Dumping Duty in Australia? explains the contractual and border-liability distinction in more detail.
What to verify before accepting the quotation
For potentially in-scope Chinese hollow structural sections, assemble the following before paying a deposit:
- Exact drawings and a description of the goods in their imported condition.
- Material, manufacturing method, cross-section, dimensions, wall thickness, finish, ends, holes and applicable standard.
- Proposed tariff classification and statistical code, checked against the goods description rather than used as the only test.
- Full legal names and addresses of the manufacturer, exporter and every intermediary supplier.
- The current register row, CCID and Dumping Specification Number—or the precise basis for any claimed exemption.
- Invoice price, quantity, Incoterm, freight, insurance and credit terms needed for the export-price calculation.
- A written calculation or assessment from a licensed Australian customs broker using the current register.
- Final commercial and shipping documents that match the entity structure assessed before production.
- Evidence of the export date, because ABF says the rate applying to goods already on the water is determined by the date of export.
Where a confidential benchmark or rate is involved, a bona fide importer can substantiate its commercial relationship and request relevant exporter information from the Commission's client support service.
Inquiry 710 dates to watch
- 24 August 2026: importer questionnaire Parts B and C due.
- 31 August 2026: importer questionnaire Parts D and E due.
- 9 September 2026: exporter questionnaires and initial submissions due.
- 23 November 2026: Statement of Essential Facts due no later than this date.
- 20 days after the Statement of Essential Facts: submissions on the statement due.
- 5 January 2027: final recommendation due no later than this date.
These are inquiry milestones, not dates on which a new universal rate automatically begins. Recheck the live case record and register before each purchase and customs instruction.
Bottom line for Australian importers
Inquiry 710 makes hollow structural sections a live procurement and landed-cost issue, but the correct response is not to apply one headline percentage to every steel tube from China.
Start with the goods description. Then verify the legal manufacturer, exporter and trader chain, match the current register treatment, and have the transaction calculated from current information. If any of those inputs change before shipment, reopen the assessment before the import declaration is lodged.
For help connecting a Chinese supplier quotation, technical specification and Australian import-risk check, contact Ocean Port Link.
This article provides general operational information, not legal or customs advice for a particular shipment.
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