Safeguard cases will move to Australia’s trade remedies body
Federal Parliament passed new trade laws on 17 September 2026 that move safeguard investigations on damaging import surges out of the Productivity Commission.
Under the Customs Amendment (Safeguard Inquiries) Bill 2026, Australia’s specialist trade remedies agency will handle those cases. Meanwhile, the Anti-Dumping Commission will be renamed the Australian Trade Remedies Commission.
That change puts safeguards, anti-dumping matters and countervailing investigations under one roof.
Safeguards let governments impose temporary measures, including tariffs, when a sudden rise in imports causes serious injury to a local industry.
The Timber, Furnishing and Textiles Union campaigned for the change with the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union and the Australian Workers’ Union. Their campaign ran for more than a decade.
TFTU Acting National Secretary Leo Skourdoumbis said the reform gives Australian workers and manufacturers another tool to defend jobs and production from damaging import surges.
“Other countries use safeguard tariffs to defend their industries and their workers. Australia needs to be able to respond when local jobs are put at risk by sudden import surges,” Mr Skourdoumbis said.
US and Canada tariff moves
Countries around the world are stepping up action on international overcapacity and trade diversion. According to the union, the United States has imposed major tariffs on timber and manufactured wood products.
Canada has also imposed a provisional 25% safeguard tariff on imported wood cabinets and vanities. As a result, unions argue diverted products can be pushed into markets such as Australia.
Skourdoumbis said too many Australian jobs were lost while safeguard investigations remained with the Productivity Commission, an arrangement dating back to the Howard Government in 1998.
He also said Australia needs the same capacity to respond when trading partners put tariffs on goods to defend their own industries.
“This is not about shutting Australia off from trade. It is about having a fair go and using the rights Australia has under the WTO Agreement on Safeguards,” he said.
The union expects the new arrangements to strengthen Australia’s response to sudden import surges. However, the government has not disclosed when the renamed Australian Trade Remedies Commission will begin operating under the new structure.
