Guidance

Exemption reviews on trade remedy measures

Updated 22 November 2024

Legal framework

Secondary legislation in the Trade Remedies (Dumping and Subsidisation) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (the D&S Regs)

Regulation 73 of the D&S Regs covers the definition of circumvention and explains who can apply for an exemption review. Regulations 96E-96I of the D&S Regs cover the initiation and conduct of UK trade remedies exemption reviews.

Secondary legislation in the Customs (Import Duty) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 (the Customs Regs)

Regulation 128 of the Customs Regs covers the definition of a related party.

Introduction to exemption reviews

An exemption review assesses whether an importer or overseas exporter can demonstrate that they are not involved in circumventing a trade remedy measure and therefore should be exempted from it.

The exemption review only applies to measures arising from a circumvention review conducted by the EU before the EU trade remedies measure was transitioned to the UK.

Initiation

An application for an exemption to a trade remedy measure can be made by or on behalf of an importer or an overseas exporter.

To apply for an exemption review you will need to register on our Trade Remedies Service, complete and submit the appropriate application form.

If you are an overseas exporter, you must provide evidence that you are not circumventing the measure.

If you are an importer, you must include evidence that:

1. you are not related to an overseas exporter which is subject to the measure; and

2. you are not circumventing the measure.

If the circumvention considered in the EU review was carried out via an assembly operation, you will need to demonstrate that the way you assemble the products you sell does not constitute circumvention of the measure. To do this, you will need to demonstrate one of the following:

1. Your assembly operation relies on less than 60% of the parts coming from the exporting country/territory; or

2. Your assembly operation relies on more than 60% of the parts coming from the exporting country/territory but the value added to the parts during the assembly operation or completion operation is greater than 25% of the manufacturing cost.

Our Pre-Application Office (PAO) can advise you on how to make an application for an exemption review, as well as providing responses to ad hoc queries. For more information on this, please see our pre-application office guidance or contact the PAO on [email protected].

If we decide to initiate a review, we will inform you. We will also notify the Secretary of State of our decision and make a recommendation to suspend the collection of the duties from the trade remedies measure for the applicant’s goods, pending the outcome of our review.

If our recommendation to suspend the collection of the duties is rejected, the Secretary of State will notify you of the reasons for the decision. If our recommendation to suspend is accepted, the Secretary of State may give effect to this by issuing a public notice.

When we initiate, we will publish a notice of initiation online through the Trade Remedies Service. This will serve as a public file.

Analysis

Once we initiate, we will verify the evidence provided during the application process to check that:

1. It relates to a UK trade remedies measure that has been extended following a circumvention review that was conducted by the EU.

2. If you are an overseas exporter, that you are not circumventing the measure

3. If you are an importer, that you are not related to an overseas exporter which is subject to the measure, and you are not circumventing the measure.

We may also visit your business premises to verify the assembly operation and data submitted during the application process. When we do this, we will contact you beforehand to discuss the proposed date and time for the visit, its nature and purpose, and any other information we may need.

Once we have assessed and verified the data and completed our review, we will determine whether to make a recommendation to the Secretary of State to grant you an exemption from the trade remedies measure.

Outcome

If we are satisfied that you meet the necessary requirements to be eligible for an exemption, we will make a recommendation to the Secretary of State to this effect.

Our recommendation will include:

• details of the goods in question;
• a link to the public notice which applies the UK trade remedies measure;
• the name of the applicant;
• our rationale for the recommendation.

The Secretary of State will choose to either accept or reject our recommendation. If our recommendation is rejected, the Secretary of State will publish a notice setting out the reasons for the rejection and notify you as the applicant. If our recommendation is accepted, the Secretary of State will give effect to this by issuing a public notice. In both cases, we will also notify you of the Secretary of State’s decision.

If an exemption is granted, you will be required to maintain records of your assembly operation and parts for at least three years following the exemption. We may conduct periodic reviews of the exemption to consider whether you are still eligible. When we do this, we will contact you beforehand to notify you and discuss what information we may need from you.

If we decide you are not eligible for an exemption, we will publish a notice of the reasons for our decision, and we will notify you.

We will also notify the Secretary of State of our decision and recommend that the collection of the duty that was suspended is reinstated. The Secretary of State may issue a public notice reinstating the rate that previously applied to the goods from the day on which it was suspended.