Oz dumping ground threat grows

Concerns are growing that Australia will become a dumping ground for cheap Chinese textile, clothing and footwear (TCF) merchandise, as the United States (US) and European Union (EU) clamp down on Chinese imports.
China has recently signed voluntary restraint agreements (VRAs) with the US and the EU, which has led to a backlog of exported Chinese product with no where to go.
National TCF Consultancy TCF Services claimed this places Australia at risk of being flooded with surplus Chinese textile, clothing and footwear product.
TCF Services strategic programs director Trevor Thomas said many Chinese TCF companies were continuing to export despite the voluntary restraint agreements.
"Australia has received low-cost Chinese product for a number of years, but we could see a marked increase [as a result of the VRAs between China and the US and EU]," Thomas said.
The move could signal the death knell for the few remaining Australian manufacturers competing in the same sectors as China, although local manufacturers of high-end, innovative product would not be impacted, he said.
"It could be good news for retailers who import from China, because the cost of Chinese products will fall even further and retailers may not necessarily pass the saving on to consumers."
Council for Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia (TFIA) executive director Ashley Van Krieken said the body was concerned that "the domestic [TCF] industry should be able to take remedial action against dumping".
"One of the problems with anti-dumping measures is that they are very difficult to police," he added.
Thomas and Van Krieken's remarks follow a Victorian submission to the federal government on Australia's Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China.
As well as conditions on labour costs, currency measures and intellectual property protection, the submission - presented in late August by Victorian minister for manufacturing and export, André Haermeyer - included a clause requiring the federal government to "ensure there are effective domestic measures against the dumping of goods into the Australian market".
"Out of everything on his [Haermeyer's] list, the issue of dumping is currently the most real and immediate," TCF Services' Trevor Thomas said.