Imported building products are being dumped on the Australian market wiping out local businesses, according to the Building Products Industry Council (BPIC).
Rejecting claims by the Master Builders Association (MBA) that proposed anti-dumping duties on cheap imports would drive up housing costs, the BPIC said the duties are only applied when imports are sold below their normal overseas value.
BPIC executive officer, Rodger Hills, said anti-dumping duties don't push prices up; they restore fair competition.
“They help to buffer the Australian construction sector from overseas interests intent on destroying the local market,” he said.
The Anti-Dumping Commission investigation into cheap imported glass windows and doors received more than 400 submissions proof there is widespread concern about foreign-subsidised building products being dumped into the Australian market.
“These concerns are not speculative; they are grounded in real-world impacts on Australian jobs, investment, and supply chain stability,” Hills said.
"Domestic manufacturing capability cannot survive, let alone grow, under distorted market conditions; it's that simple."
Australia's building product sector directly employs 243,300 people and a further 796,500 indirectly. About 262,000 firms make up the sector and manufacturing, fabrication and installation activity accounts for $67.3 billion in economic activity.
“Spurious claims that domestic manufacturing capability is lacking, with the gap needing to be filled by cheap dumped products, puts all those jobs and businesses at risk,” Hills said.
“A resilient construction sector requires a fair and level playing field with both competitive imports and strong local manufacturing; something impossible without enforcing anti-dumping laws.”
Weld Australia has repeatedly warned of cheap imports undermining local industry standards while the Master Plumbers Association (MPA) of NSW has raised safety concerns about poorly made heat pumps being sourced in bulk from overseas.
However, the MBA is opposed to tariffs on aluminium window and door (AWD) imports from China due to significant adverse impacts it would have on the building and construction industry and the broader economy.
MBA CEO Denita Wawn said tariffs would only inflate costs and adversely impact housing affordability for more Australians.
“There are those in the supply chain that appear to have moved to impose unjustified constraints on the industry and demonstrate themselves as commercially selfish,” she said.
“The cost of building products and materials have risen by 37.9 per cent since 2019 pushing up house prices.”
Wawn said alternative measures should be investigated by the federal government.