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Fastener duties could hit UK industry

A British Association of Fastener Distributors product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Apr 19, 2006

Association estimates that, over five years, EC duties could put an extra tax burden on British industries as diverse as engineering, electronics and construction of £8 million.

In November 2005, the European Commission confirmed the imposition of anti-dumping duties on most threaded stainless-steel fasteners imported from six key Asian producing countries.

The duties, which range up to 27.4%, will remain in place until at least 2010, when they could feasibly be extended for a further period.

The British Association of Fastener Distributors has estimated that, over a five-year period, the duties could represent an additional taxation burden on British industries as diverse as engineering, electronics and construction - as well as on the consumer - of £8 million.

Although stainless-steel members of the association have reviewed sourcing strategies to limit the impact on their customers, the duties or the additional cost of purchasing more products from European manufacturing sources are likely to mean an average 15% increase in the cost of stainless-steel fasteners to industry.

BAFD Chairman, Steve Auld, said: "It is entirely unrealistic for European politicians to expect this level of cost increase to be absorbed by the fastener distribution industry".

"In some cases the duty exceeds the entire profit margin available to the distributor".

BAFD believes that the broad brush, indiscriminate nature of anti-dumping measures means that duty is applied to many products types that are simply not available from any European volume producer, making the tax an outright burden, without any positive effect any European business or jobs.

Working alongside other European fastener distributor associations, BAFD members argued strongly against the imposition of these taxes, but were only successful in having nuts eliminated from the measures, on the basis that no volume European manufacturer existed at all.

BAFD is now deeply concerned that similar measures may be targeted against the import of carbon-steel threaded fasteners.

"If this happens", said Auld, "the impact on British industry and consumers will be 30 times wider ranging and deeper biting".

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