TRA closes investigation on creamy/white limestone from Portugal
The TRA has closed its investigation into creamy/white limestone from Portugal, having found no evidence of the goods benefiting from a countervailable subsidy.
The Trade Remedies Authority has closed its subsidy investigation into imports of creamy/white limestone from Portugal, having found no evidence of the goods concerned benefiting from a countervailable subsidy.
Creamy/white limestone is a natural stone product used in high-end architectural projects, heritage restorations and premium commercial builds.
The TRA opened this investigation in January 2026 in response to an application by a UK producer, which claimed that the manufacture of creamy/white limestone from Portugal was being subsidised by the Portuguese government and that these subsidised imports were causing injury to the UK’s domestic industry for these goods.
The application referred to four different subsidy programmes, including grants, non-refundable financing and funded payments provided by the Portuguese government to support the stone industry. These subsidies were alleged to have enabled Portuguese producers to purchase more efficient machinery and enhance their competitive position in overseas markets.
The TRA assessed the programmes thoroughly during its investigation and was not able to establish all the elements that make a subsidy countervailable in relation to any of the programmes.
In this case, for the various alleged subsidy programmes and projects, the evidence did not establish either:
- an executed payment or other financial contribution to the identified recipient;
- a benefit attributable during the POI to a producer or overseas exporter of the goods concerned;
- specificity; or
- a combination of those elements.
The investigation found that some of the programmes and projects received subsidies and that some recipients had received a financial advantage. However, under World Trade Organization rules this does not establish that the goods concerned benefited from a countervailable subsidy. The TRA therefore closed the investigation.
Background:
- The goods concerned are creamy/white limestone originating in Portugal in the form of slab and finished stone. Slab refers to natural stone that has been simply cut or sawn. Finished stone refers to natural stone that has been processed and worked in a factory, making it ready for installation.
- Subsidies are one of three trade remedy tools used to address goods that are causing injury to UK industry. They are governed by specific criteria in the World Trade Organization global framework for trade remedies. A subsidy is countervailable (the imports which benefit from it can be offset by a trade remedy measure) if it is specific to certain companies, industries or regional areas (rather than general) and when it is granted either directly or indirectly for the manufacture, production, export or transport of goods.
- This investigation had a period of investigation of 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 and an injury period of 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2025.
- You can find out more about the UK’s trade remedies regime in our online guidance. You can find out how the TRA determines subsidies and countervailing duties in its guidance on subsidies.
- Full details for this case are available on the TRA’s public file.