The TRA has initiated an absorption review, following an application from a UK producer of excavators.
The Trade Remedies Authority has today (30 March 2026) initiated its first absorption review.
Absorption reviews are one of a number of different types of review that the TRA can conduct while a trade remedy measure is in place. They investigate whether an anti-dumping measure on a particular product is having its intended effect or if it has been absorbed (resulting in the prices of imports failing to reflect the imposition of the measure).
The absorption review initiated today follows an application from a UK producer of excavators which claimed that the anti-dumping measure imposed in May 2025 (as well as the provisional anti-dumping measure imposed in December 2024) is being absorbed and is therefore not having its intended effect of reducing the injury caused by dumped excavators entering the UK.
The anti-dumping duties range from 18.81% for a sampled exporter to 40.08% for the residual rate. They apply to imports of excavators from China weighing 11 tonnes or more, but less than 80 tonnes.
The review will consider:
- export, resale and subsequent selling prices of the imported excavators;
- whether the anti-dumping duty has led to movements in resale prices and subsequent selling prices;
- and any other factors which may have had an impact on prices.
Following the conclusion of the review, the TRA will either recommend to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade that the duty should remain unchanged or that it should be varied. If the TRA recommends that the duty should be varied, the variation can be applied to some or all of the goods subject to the review.
Interested parties can take part in this absorption review by registering on the TRA's public file by 14 April 2026.
Background
- 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.
- The UK trade remedies regime is set by the Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) Act 2018 and the Trade Act 2021, which operationalise the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements covering trade remedies.
