The AAT has affirmed that certain aluminium extrusions imported from China were subject to anti-dumping duties.

Facts

The applicant imported from China 2 shipments of aluminium extrusions (subject goods) designed for use in offices to manage computer and power cables. After importation, the applicant assembled the subject goods into final products.

In April 2020, the Australian Border Force completed a compliance assessment under s 214AE of the Customs Act 1901 (the Act) and final GST and anti-dumping calculations in relation to a sample of Full Import Declarations submitted on behalf of the applicant. The decision was affirmed following an internal review of the compliance assessment. The applicant paid duty on 2 of the import declarations and subsequently lodged 2 refund applications in respect of those payments. Both refund applications were refused.

At issue was whether the 2 refund applications were correctly refused. Dumping duty was imposed by the Customs Tariff (Anti-Dumping) Act 1975 on certain aluminium extrusions exported from China. These anti-dumping measures were imposed by ministerial notices pursuant to ss 269TG and 269TJ of the Act in respect of certain aluminium extrusions (goods under consideration) classified to headings 7604, 7608 and 7610 of Sch 3 to the Customs Tariff Act 1995 and to “like goods”.

The applicant submitted that the subject goods did not come into the scope of the notices as they were not classified to headings 7604, 7608 and 7610. It argued that the subject goods were not simple aluminium extrusions and were instead designed to interact specifically with other components for mounting. The subject goods were either properly classified to heading 8538 (parts suitable for use solely or principally with certain apparatuses) or heading 7616 (other articles of aluminium).