In response to the Australian Steel Institute’s November 2025 application for Australian Provisional and Definitive Safeguards associated with fabricated structural steel, Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers requested that the Productivity Commission undertake an inquiry into whether safeguard action is warranted against imports of fabricated structural steel products.
Full details of the inquiry (including the ASI’s initial submission) can be found via
www.pc.gov.au/inquiries-and-research/steel-safeguards/
The ASI would like to thank all the members who lodged submissions with the Productivity Commission, wrote letters to politicians or hosted politicians in their businesses. Without the groundswell of actions from the industry, we collectively would not have gotten this far.
The Productivity Commission was open for submissions from interested parties until 20 April 2026. This will be followed by Public Hearings during the week of 11 to 15 May 2026.
An interim report is then due in September, at which time final submissions will be called. The Productivity Commission will then present a final report to the Federal Government in November 2026.
To many of our members, this process feels onerously long and we understand that sentiment. The Productivity Commission is following due process to ensure their assessment of the safeguard application is aligned to all relevant World Trade Organisation (WTO) requirements.
We encourage all our members to take every opportunity for their voice to be heard via submissions, participation in any industry visits by the commission and agreeing to any requests for meetings with the Productivity Commission.
Our ASI state managers are available to help guide members through the various engagements or submission processes, so please call if you need assistance or guidance.
Suffice to say, this is an incredibly important step that our industry has taken in bringing the substantial rise of imported steel fabrication to the attention of our Federal Government.
We have already seen the financial viability of many of our Australian fabricators erode significantly and, in some cases, result in business closures. This is having a profound impact on skills development, industry employment, sovereign capability, and risks constraining Australia’s economic progress.
The experience of our fabricators has flowed into our steel distributors, our steel coatings industry, our steel manufacturers, and all the support services that together make up our Australian steel industry.
This action is not about calling for government hand-outs. This action is about bringing attention to, and action against, a major surge in imported steel fabricated structures of a magnitude unseen in our history.
Something has distorted the flow of fair trade in our sector. We are asking the Federal Government to hear our submission, understand the ramifications to the Australian economy if the situation continues, and to look at the long term impact if we were to lose further local steel fabrication capability and all the associated flow-on effects throughout the Australian steel industry.
For more details, visit the ASI website.
Tony Schreiber
Chair, ASI
