Weld Australia presses governments before 30 September 2026 deadline
Imports of fabricated structural steel rose 28% over the five-year period examined by the Productivity Commission, which has issued an interim view that safeguard measures are not warranted.
Weld Australia attacked that finding on 3 September 2026 after the interim report concluded the industry had not met the threshold for safeguard action. Public comment on the report remains open until 30 September 2026.
The industry body argued the commission’s own material shows imports are rising, employment has fallen from its peak and parts of the sector face difficult conditions. It said governments should not wait for a sharper import surge before stepping in.
Chief executive Geoff Crittenden said the result leaves local workshops exposed. “The Productivity Commission has looked at an industry under siege and told it to wait,” Crittenden said.
He argued the test for action is too narrow because it looks for a surge that is recent, sudden, sharp and significant. Crittenden said that by the time those legal conditions are met, local capability could already be gone.
Weld Australia is calling on federal and state governments to overhaul procurement rules, strengthen support for small and medium-sized fabricators and back local manufacturing with enforceable measures rather than broad statements.
Procurement changes sought for local fabricators
According to the group, small and medium-sized fabricators are being squeezed by rising costs, cheap imports, weak procurement settings and a lack of support for local capability.
Crittenden said procurement decisions should assess local content, standards compliance, whole-of-life value, sovereign capability, skills development and supply chain resilience, instead of focusing only on the lowest bid.
He also framed the dispute as part of a broader productivity problem. Crittenden said real productivity comes from better technology, stronger skills, improved systems, better planning, smarter use of capital and more resilient local supply chains.
The group says governments of all political persuasions have spent decades talking about manufacturing, regional jobs, apprenticeships and sovereign capability while still awarding too much work to the cheapest offshore supplier.
Weld Australia did not set out specific procurement rule changes or a timeline for any government response in its 3 September statement.
