Christopher Pyne: Today the Government has asked the Anti-Dumping Commission to provide me with advice urgently on the issues surrounding the potential dumping of Asian steel in Australia. Specifically, I’ve asked the ADC to examine the economics of the global steel and aluminum markets, and to assess how distortions within these markets are unfairly damaging the viability and growth of the steel and aluminum sector, to identify trends in dumping and circumvention behaviour in steel and aluminum markets, to identify ways to further improve the efficiency of investigations of potential dumping and circumvention activities, and to inform the Commissioner’s assessment of the most effective form of measures where there’s evidence of dumping and circumvention activities.

I take my role as the Industry Minister in terms of anti-dumping very seriously, and in the last few months we have taken action in quite a number of specific areas to do what the Anti-Dumping Commission’s role is, which is to protect Australian businesses from being injured by dumped products coming from overseas. Last week we added duties to Italian tinned tomatoes; we are involved in a number of current inquiries into steel and aluminum products, in fact six the Commissioner tells me this morning, and I’ve asked him to fast track those particular inquiries. They cover things like dumping and also circumvention.

Circumvention is effectively where the Commission has applied dumping duties to products, and the countries and companies from which those products come alter the products by adding something to them to say that they’re no longer the product that duties were applied to. So that’s why they’re trying to get around the duties, that’s why it’s called circumvention, circumventing the duties that have been applied.

There are three cases that were initiated earlier this year, another three in recent times, where the ADC will give me advice very soon, and I’ve asked them to fast-track that advice to see if Chinese steel, or other steel and aluminum products from potentially Taiwan or South Korea or elsewhere, are circumventing the actions that we've already taken in January. This very important because we're seeing at the moment in Whyalla, and of course in Port Kembla, issues around steel making in Australia. Already, 75 per cent of Arrium's products are covered by duties through the ADC; so that's not the only reason Arrium is struggling at Whyalla, obviously the iron ore price is another significant problem for the Arrium business.

But in the areas that I can control, like anti-dumping, I'm taking the action that is necessary to protect Australian business from being injured by cheap imports being dumped in this country. April the fourth is the date that the ADC will report to me around this inquiry that I've asked them to initiate. I should add that this inquiry is only being initiated because of reforms that we've done to anti-dumping laws in Australia last year in the first round of reforms, where we established a special investigations unit to act when the Minister or the Commissioner believes that investigations should be launched quickly and be expedited quickly. The ADC is one of the toughest commissions for anti-dumping in the world, we have some of the toughest laws. We have been accused in the past of being slow, but we are doing something about that and we've taken the necessary actions to make sure that we can quickly work to protect Australian business. So that's what we're announcing today, and I'm happy to answer any questions around this subject.

Question:      So how widespread do you think the problem of Asian companies dumping steel in Australia actually is?

Christopher Pyne: Well since the ADC has been acting on complaints to the Commission, we know – 80 per cent, by the way, of the ADC's work, 80 per cent of the cases being investigated are in steel and aluminum. So it's a very significant issue for the Anti-Dumping Commission. We have applied 41 measures to imported steel products in recent times, covering 13 for China, eight for Korea and six for Taiwan. They cover 11 product categories and 11 different countries. They’ve primarily been applied to products that are produced by Arrium in 18 cases and Bluescope in 16 cases. So how widespread it is, well the ADC will give me advice on that by 4 April. Where the Anti-Dumping Commission has investigated and found injury to Australian business, we have applied duties. We believe in free trade, but we also believe in fair trade. And the rules and the laws are in place around anti-dumping to protect Australian businesses from being injured when they are being dumped upon from overseas. And as the Industry Minister I'm quite prepared to use that muscle, to flex that muscle when it is necessary to do so to protect Australian business.

Question:      Is this anti-dumping measure too little too late for the Whyalla steelworks?

Christopher Pyne: No, it's not. As I said, 75 per cent of Arrium's products are already covered by duties from overseas competitors. So the reasons that Arrium is under pressure at Whyalla are not just because of potentially dumped steel from Asian steel makers. There are other issues like, for example, the age of the plant, the iron ore prices that affect the entire business, and procurement policies of Governments, and the private sector going back for the last couple of decades. But I have put on the Industry Minister's agenda, since I was the Industry Minister, the procurement policies of state and the Commonwealth Government. We have a report in February about what further we can do. We already apply the Australian standard to steel in construction in South Australia and elsewhere. The actions the South Australian Government has taken in recent times has been to say that they'll not only apply the Australian standard to steel being used in construction in their projects, but they'll also make sure that it is certified as being of Australian standard; whereas at the moment some products are certified- some products claim to be Australian standard but are not certified. So state governments could improve their procurement policies in that way, here in New South Wales that would be a good measure for them to take as well. And the Australian Government already applies the Australian standard to anything we do, but of course we aren't the constructors of major projects – we provide the money, but we don't have the means by which we do the construction.

Question:      And just on that, are you talking with the New South Wales Government about taking similar measures to the South Australian Government to specify the use of Australian steel in Government construction contracts?

Christopher Pyne: Well it’s not Australian steel so much as Australian standard steel. So, of course, we have an open market. If steel comes into Australia that is of the same standard as Australian steel and is certified as that standard, if it isn't being dumped, people are entitled to use that steel in their construction. What the South Australian Government has said that they not only require Australian standard steel, they will make sure it is up to the Australian standard. New South Wales could do the same thing, and I would welcome them doing that. At the moment there are cases before the Anti-Dumping Commission around circumvention, around boron in Chinese steel for example, where duties have been applied to Chinese steel and the allegation is being made that boron has been included in those steel products to say that it's no longer subject to those duties, but in fact is a different alloy product. Now, the ADC will give me some advice soon on decisions they have been making around circumvention, and I'll act on their advice.

Question:      And will it be the Federal Government's fault if the Whyalla steelworks are moth-balled, because the Federal Government took too long to act?

Christopher Pyne: No, that's a ridiculous assertion.

Question:      And then should the South Australian Government do more for the Whyalla steelworks?

Christopher Pyne: Well, the South Australian and the Australian Government are in discussions about what could be done about the Whyalla steelworks. Obviously what the Whyalla steelworks are different to other steelworks in Australia in that they produce actual long products for use in construction. Port Kembla produces flat products, as well as other products too. And so if we were to lose the Whyalla steelworks or the Port Kembla steelworks for that matter, in the current environment where there is a suggestion of a glut of steel products because of Chinese overproduction, it would be a shame if in two or three years we came back and the glut had disappeared and yet we didn't have a steel industry in Australia. So we are doing everything we can, both the Commonwealth Government and the South Australian Government, and we'll continue to have discussions around that.

And of course I have been in discussions with Arrium for some time around this matter. This is not a surprise to me, and neither is it a surprise to Jay Weatherill in South Australia.

Question:      Have there been discussions with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade? I can't imagine they would be all too pleased with some of the ramifications that could come from this.

Christopher Pyne: Well free trade is a basic philosophy of our Government, as it was of the Labor Government, but free trade doesn’t mean it has to be unfair trade. And the anti-dumping laws are in place to ensure that businesses in Australia are not injured by products being dumped from overseas. And I'm going to use those laws to their full capacity to protect Australian business. I doubt that the Foreign Affairs and Trade Department would have a difficulty with that, but if they do, it really isn't a matter for them, it's a matter for the Department of Industry and the Anti-Dumping Commission. And I'm acting within the powers that have been provided to me to protect Australian business, and I intend to continue to do so.

Unidentified Speaker:       Last question.

Question:      And just onto other matters, how worried are you that Nick Xenophon's party will win your seat?

Christopher Pyne: [Laughs] Look, I'm not going to have a running commentary on petty political matters like who holds what seat from now until Election Day. I am getting on with the job, as I have for the last 23 years. As I'm demonstrating again today, major parties like the Liberal Party or the Labor Party can deliver. We don't just talk, we can actually deliver; we don't just raise issues, we deliver outcomes. And I will continue to do that. But I'm not going to be a commentator on my own political future.

Unidentified Speaker:       Thanks everyone.

Christopher Pyne: Thank you.

Media contact: Mr Pyne's office 02 6277 7070, pynemedia [at] industry.gov.au
Department media: media [at] industry.gov.au