Weld Australia has expressed profound disappointment at the Productivity Commission’s interim report into fabricated structural steel safeguards.
The report concludes that safeguard measures are not warranted—despite the Commission’s own data showing that imports grew 28% over the five-year investigation period.
The Productivity Commission report said it “has not found the necessary conditions have been met to introduce safeguards.”
“At the aggregate level, the evidence does not show serious injury across the domestic fabricated structural steel industry, or the threat of such injury, that meets the high legal standard for safeguard measures," the report said.
Weld Australia CEO Geoff Crittenden said the PC has looked at an industry under siege and told it to wait.
“The Commission’s own report concedes that imports are rising, that employment has fallen from its peak, and that industry segments are facing difficult conditions,” he said.
“Yet its answer is that the damage is not ‘sudden’ or ‘serious’ enough to justify action. Tell that to the Australian welders and fabricators closing their doors.
“When a fabricator walks away from the work it was built to do because it cannot compete with cheap imports, the Productivity Commission calls it ‘adjustment’."
Crittenden said that on the workshop floor, jobs, skills and hard-won technical knowledge cannot be rebuilt overnight. “There will be no industry left to safeguard,” he warned.
The interim report is open for public comment until 30 September 2026.
According to Crittenden, Australia’s manufacturing sector, particularly small and medium-sized fabricators, are being squeezed by rising costs, cheap imports, weak procurement settings and a lack of genuine support for local capability.
He said governments of all political persuasions have spent decades talking about manufacturing, sovereign capability, regional jobs and apprenticeships, while awarding work to the cheapest offshore option.
“Governments talk about Australian jobs, then award work offshore. They talk about supply chain resilience, then rely on imported fabricated steel,” he said.
The Productivity Commission’s latest data shows labour productivity fell by 0.6% in the March 2026 quarter and grew by just 0.3% over the year.
Weld Australia said the crisis facing small and medium-sized businesses is being felt across the fabrication sector. “Most Australian fabricators are SMEs,” he said.
ASIC has reported that 47,728 businesses have entered insolvency since May 2022, including 14,011 during the 2025–26 financial year alone. The construction industry has recorded more than 10,000 insolvencies over the past four years.
Weld Australia is also calling for stronger enforcement of standards for imported fabricated steel.
“Australian fabricators are expected to comply with Australian Standards, maintain welding procedures, employ qualified people, keep records, pass inspections and meet safety obligations,” Crittenden said.
“Imported fabricated steel must be held to the same bar. If it complies, it should be welcome. If it does not, it should not be used.”
Crittenden said local industry cannot be expected to compete against imported products that are not subject to the same level of compliance scrutiny.
“Australian welders and fabricators are not asking for special treatment. They’re simply asking for a fair go,” he said.