Guidance

How we carry out exemption reviews on trade remedy measures

Updated 12 April 2024

This guidance covers:

• what an exemption review is and who might be eligible to apply for exemption from a trade remedy measure
• how to apply for an exemption and what to include in an application
• how we assess whether to accept an application for an exemption
• our exemption review process
• possible outcomes of an exemption review

Primary legislation in the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 (the Tax Act)

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

• Regulation 73 covers the definition of circumvention and explains who can apply for an exemption review
• Regulations 96E-96I cover the initiation and conduct of UK trade remedies exemption reviews
• Regulation 128 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 it was transitioned to the UK, or measures following a circumvention review initiated by the Trade Remedies Authority.

Applying for a UK trade remedies exemption review

An application for an exemption to a trade remedy measure can be made by, or on behalf of, an importer or an overseas exporter. Application forms can be downloaded and must be submitted online through the Trade Remedies Service.

The application must include evidence that the applicant is not related to an overseas exporter which is subject to the relevant trade remedy measure and that they are not engaged in circumventing the measure.

What to include in your application

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:

• you are not related to an overseas exporter which is subject to the measure and
• you are not circumventing the measure

If the circumvention in question was considered to have been carried out through assembly of parts, 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:

• your assembly operation relies on less than 60% of the parts coming from the exporting country/territory or
• 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

Once an application is submitted, we will assess it to determine if it contains sufficient information to substantiate the need for a review.

Why we may not accept an exemption review application

We will not accept an application if we are not satisfied that an application provides sufficient evidence to substantiate the need for a review.

We may also reject the exemption review application if the application is not made via our online Trade Remedies Service.

If we reject an application, we will inform the applicant.

Initiating an exemption review

If we are satisfied that an application contains sufficient evidence, we will initiate a review and publish a notice of initiation via the Trade Remedies Service.

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 the applicant 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.

Application assessment

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

• it relates to a UK trade remedies measure that has been extended following a circumvention review
• if the applicant is an overseas exporter, that they are not circumventing the measure
• if the applicant is an importer, that they are not related to an overseas exporter which is subject to the measure, and they are not circumventing the measure

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

Possible outcomes of an exemption review

Once we have assessed and verified the applicant’s data and completed our review, we will determine whether to make a recommendation to the Secretary of State to exempt the applicant’s goods from the measure.

If we decide the applicant is eligible for an exemption

If we are satisfied that the applicant meets 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 applying the anti-dumping or countervailing amount to which the circumvention relates
• 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 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 the applicant of the Secretary of State’s decision.

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

If we decide the applicant is not eligible for an exemption

We will publish a notice of the reasons for our decision, and we will notify the applicant.

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 applicant’s goods, which will come into effect the day after the date the public notice is made.