Australia’s building products manufacturing sector faces a critical threat from the unchecked import of dumped construction materials that could wipe out local businesses and destabilise the market, a leading industry body has cautioned.
These dumped construction materials refer to imported building products, such as glass windows or steel, sold in Australia below their normal market value, often subsidised by foreign governments, and are said to undercut local manufacturers and distort fair competition.
The Building Products Industry Council (BPIC) has warned that inaction on foreign-subsidised building product dumping will have devastating consequences for domestic manufacturers and the broader construction supply chain.
The warning comes amid growing tension with the Master Builders Association (MBA), which has claimed that proposed anti-dumping duties on imported building products would push up housing costs.
Rejecting those claims, BPIC Executive Officer Rodger Hills said the measures were essential to protect fair trade and ensure a level playing field.
“Allowing dumped building product imports to continue unabated will wipe out local businesses and destabilise the market, a peak industry body has warned,” Hills said, reiterating the council’s position.
“Anti-dumping duties don’t push prices up; they restore fair competition,” he said.
“They help to buffer the Australian construction sector from overseas interests intent on destroying the local market.”
The warning follows an ongoing Anti-Dumping Commission investigation into the import of cheap glass windows and doors, which has received more than 400 submissions from Australian manufacturers, trade unions, and industry organisations.
The investigation reflects growing concern about the long-term viability of local production capacity in the face of artificially low-priced imports.
“These concerns are not speculative; they are grounded in real-world impacts on Australian jobs, investment, and supply chain stability,” Hills said.
According to industry analysis, dumped imports are often sold below their normal value in the exporting country, distorting market conditions locally.
This practice can erode domestic margins, making it impossible for Australian manufacturers to compete without equivalent government subsidies or support.
“Domestic manufacturing capability cannot survive, let alone grow, under distorted market conditions; it’s as simple as that,” Hills said.
“Australia’s building product sector directly employs 243,300 people and a further 796,500 indirectly.
“About 262,000 firms make up the sector and manufacturing, fabrication and installation activity accounts for $67.3 billion in economic activity.
“Spurious claims that domestic manufacturing capability is lacking, with the gap needing to be filled by cheap dumped products, puts all those jobs and businesses at risk.”
Hills also disputed suggestions that anti-dumping duties contribute to rising construction costs.
He said post-COVID price increases in materials and labour had been driven largely by inflation, supply chain disruption, and global uncertainty; not by the enforcement of trade protections.
“Post-COVID increases in material costs, like rising builder costs, have been caused mainly by inflation and uncertainty, not the enforcement of WTO-compliant trade rules,” he said.
He warned that failing to curb dumping could instead make housing costs more volatile over time by eroding Australia’s domestic production base.
“In fact, if dumping continues unchecked it will amplify price volatility by undermining legitimate Australian producers, reducing domestic production diversity, and ceding control of product supply chains and pricing to overseas interests,” he said.
The BPIC emphasised that maintaining a fair and competitive manufacturing sector is essential if the federal government is to meet its target of building 1.2 million new homes over the next five years.
Without a stable supply of locally made, quality-assured materials, the goal could become increasingly difficult to achieve.
“Australia cannot deliver 1.2 million new homes based on a foundation of distorted markets and collapsing domestic production capability,” Hills said.
“A resilient construction sector requires a fair and level playing field with both competitive imports and strong local manufacturing; something impossible without enforcing anti-dumping laws.”
Industry observers have said the outcome of the current investigation will test the government’s commitment to defending domestic manufacturing at a time when global trade volatility and foreign subsidies are intensifying competition.
