Now lawBusiness & Trade Introduced in the Senate, 24 Jun 2026

Renamed trade watchdog now checks floods of cheap imports

Some checks look at whether a rush of imports is hurting Australian makers. Those checks have moved from the Productivity Commission, the government's independent economic adviser, to the renamed Australian Trade Remedies Commission. Factories, unions and shoppers all have a stake.

Official name: Customs Amendment (Safeguard Inquiries) Bill 2026

Who it affects

• Australian factories, such as steel makers: They now take complaints about rushes of imports to the same body that handles dumping cases.
• Businesses that bring in goods from overseas: Their goods could face short-term extra taxes or limits if a check finds serious harm to local industry.
• Shoppers and businesses that buy parts from overseas: The head of the commission must weigh the effect on them before suggesting any protection.
• People who give evidence to a check: Their papers are made public unless they are secret.

When imports flood in fast

Sometimes a flood of imports arrives so fast that a local industry is badly hurt. The World Trade Organization is the world body that sets trade rules between countries. Its rules let a country take emergency action then. This is called a safeguard.

A safeguard can be an extra tax on imports. It can be a limit on how much can come in, or similar steps. It must be short-term. It must also apply to that product from every country, with some exceptions.

A country can only use a safeguard after a full investigation. In Australia, the Productivity Commission has done these. It is the government's independent adviser on the whole economy.

The Parliamentary Library works for all MPs and takes no side. It notes the last of these checks were in 2013. They were about canned tomatoes and canned fruit. Neither led to a safeguard. Unions and industry groups had long said the Productivity Commission was the wrong body for this job.

On 28 August 2025 the government said it would move the job to the Anti-Dumping Commission. That body already looks into dumping. Dumping is when overseas firms sell goods here below a fair price. This law makes that move.

Anti-Dumping Commission renamed

The Anti-Dumping Commission becomes the Australian Trade Remedies Commission. Its head gets a new title too, the Commissioner of the Australian Trade Remedies Commission. The body stays the same, with the same staff. Only the name changes.

Many small changes swap the old name for the new one in the Customs Act 1901. That is the main law about goods coming into Australia. A second law, the Customs Tariff (Anti-Dumping) Act 1975, is also updated. Most of those changes point to the new website.

The government says having all this trade work in one expert body will make it easier for Australian industry to use.

How an inquiry starts

A check can only start when the minister sends a matter to the head of the commission. The minister can also ask for a review of a safeguard already in place. Or the minister can ask for one to be made longer.

The minister can ask for hearings, set a deadline and ask for a draft report. The minister decides if the head must make a suggestion. If the minister does not ask for one, the head cannot make one.

The minister can take back or change the request at any time before the report arrives.

What the commissioner must find

Before suggesting a safeguard, the head must be sure of several things. Imports must have risen because of events nobody saw coming. That rise must be causing serious harm to a local industry, or clearly threatening to.

Serious harm means the local industry as a whole is a lot worse off. The head must look at hard evidence. That means import levels, share of the market, sales, profits and jobs.

There must be a clear link between the imports and the harm. Something else might also be hurting the industry. That harm cannot be blamed on imports.

A full safeguard can last no more than 4 years. A short-term safeguard can last no more than 200 days. The head's report does not put anything in place by itself. The government still decides.

New public interest test

This part is new. When the head is thinking of suggesting a safeguard, they must ask a question. Is it good for the public?

They must weigh the help to the local industry against the effect on the wider economy. They must also weigh the effect on linked industries and on shoppers. The minister can add other things to think about.

Say a local steel maker asks for protection from a rush of cheap steel. The head must also think about builders who buy that steel. They must think about the people who pay for new homes.

Hearings, reports and evidence

The head must post a notice on the commission's website when a check starts. They must also give fair warning of any hearings.

Hearings are public unless decided otherwise. The head can hold all or part of a hearing in private if that is good for the public. One reason could be to protect secret evidence.

Written evidence is published unless it is secret. It stays private if it was given in secret or is secret by nature. Someone might give secret papers but not give a public summary. Then the head may ignore them. The head can still use them if other sources show they are right.

The head can work in a relaxed way, talk to anyone and run workshops. The minister must give each final report to both houses of Parliament within 25 sitting days, which are days Parliament meets.

Sharing information and rules

The head can ask the Productivity Commission for facts from its past safeguard checks, if needed. The Productivity Commission can still say no. The facts can only be used for safeguard work.

The minister can make extra rules about how checks are run. These rules cannot beat the law itself.

The International Trade Remedies Forum is a group that advises the minister on this kind of trade work. It can now advise on safeguards too.

Law since September 2026

This was a government bill from the industry and science minister's area. It went into the Senate on 24 June 2026. The Senate passed it on 14 September 2026. The House of Representatives, Parliament's main house, passed it on 17 September 2026.

The Governor-General, who stands in for the King, signed it into law on 28 September 2026. The main changes start the next day.

The new rules cover checks that start after that. The Productivity Commission will finish its current check into steel frames for buildings under the old rules.

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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