Practical developments for UK exporters and SMEs
This was a comparatively quiet week for changes to general customs and export-control procedures. The principal developments concern proposed anti-dumping duties on Chinese industrial products and a markedly stronger—but uneven—WTO outlook for world trade.
1. New duty proposed on Chinese titanium dioxide
Status: Proposed—not yet in force. Comments close 26 October 2026.
The Trade Remedies Authority has provisionally concluded that imports of rutile titanium dioxide from China are being dumped in the UK and pose an imminent threat to British producers.
Titanium dioxide is widely used as a whitening and opacifying agent in paint, plastics, coatings, paper and numerous manufactured products.
The TRA proposes a five-year mixed anti-dumping duty:
- cooperating Chinese exporters: 48.29%, subject to a minimum of £0.665 per kg;
- other exporters: 63.66%, subject to a minimum of £0.876 per kg.
The applicable charge would be whichever calculation generated the greater duty. Interested businesses have until 26 October to submit comments. The proposal must still pass through the final recommendation and government decision stages before becoming operative. GOV.UK
Practical consequences
UK importers and manufacturers using titanium dioxide should:
- confirm whether their products fall within the investigation’s precise product and commodity-code scope;
- identify the Chinese manufacturer rather than relying solely on the immediate supplier;
- estimate the possible duty under both the percentage and minimum-per-kilogram calculations;
- reconsider fixed-price purchasing and sales contracts;
- examine alternative suppliers; and
- submit evidence before 26 October if the proposed measure would materially affect their business.
Manufacturers using titanium dioxide as an input may face substantially higher costs even though they do not regard themselves as operating in the chemical industry.
Training update: A proposed trade remedy must not be entered into landed-cost calculations as though it were already a legal charge. However, ignoring it when agreeing future prices would be equally unwise.
Timely article: How anti-dumping duties affect manufacturers further down the supply chain.
TRA announcement and proposed rates
2. Higher final duties proposed on Chinese boom lifts
Status: Intended final recommendation—provisional measures are already in force. Comments close 20 October 2026.
The TRA has published its intended final determination concerning Chinese boom lifts, also known as cherry pickers. It found that import prices undercut the UK industry by more than 25% and proposes definitive anti-dumping duties of up to 82.89%.
Provisional measures have applied since 20 August 2026. The latest announcement is therefore an important development in an existing investigation, not the first imposition of a charge. Businesses have until 20 October to comment before the TRA makes its final recommendation to the Secretary of State. GOV.UK
Practical consequences
Importers, dealers, hire companies and purchasers should:
- establish which provisional rate currently applies;
- confirm the manufacturer and exporter named in the transaction;
- avoid assuming that every Chinese supplier will attract the same final rate;
- check whether contractual prices allow for changes in trade-remedy duty;
- review goods already ordered but not yet imported; and
- distinguish the current provisional measure from the proposed definitive duty.
A supplier invoice describing equipment merely as an “aerial platform” or “lifting machine” is not enough. Classification, technical specification and the investigation’s product scope must be examined together.
Training update: Trade remedies should be taught as a continuing process—investigation, registration where applicable, provisional measure, intended determination, final recommendation and government decision. Each stage has a different legal and commercial effect.
3. WTO raises its global goods-trade forecast
Status: Economic assessment—not a change in trading rules.
The WTO now forecasts that world merchandise-trade volume will grow by 3.9% in 2026, compared with the 1.9% forecast issued in March. It expects growth of 4.1% in 2027.
The improvement is heavily influenced by investment in AI-related infrastructure. AI-enabling goods accounted for almost half of global merchandise-trade growth during the first half of 2026. The picture is therefore stronger than previously expected but concentrated in particular products and regions.
Commercial-services trade is expected to grow by only 3.3% in 2026, reflecting pressure on transport and travel. The WTO also identifies continuing risks from energy and fertiliser costs, Middle East disruption and any slowdown in AI investment. wto.org
Practical consequences
This forecast does not itself require a compliance change, but SMEs should interpret it carefully:
- stronger global trade does not mean demand is rising equally in every market;
- headline growth may conceal weak conditions in an exporter’s own sector;
- Gulf-related freight, energy and insurance risks remain significant;
- growth in Asian demand may create opportunities, but exporters must still examine local regulation, payment risk and distribution capability; and
- forecasts should inform market research, not replace it.
Training update: Global trade figures describe the market as a whole. They do not prove that a particular product is competitive, suitably priced or compliant in a chosen country.
Timely article: Why growth in world trade does not automatically mean growth for every exporter.
WTO Global Trade Outlook and Statistics—October 2026
This week’s practical lesson
The two TRA cases demonstrate how a regulatory decision about one imported product can affect distributors, equipment users and manufacturers several stages further down the supply chain. The WTO forecast makes the same point at a wider level: headline trade growth can obscure sharply different experiences between products, sectors and regions.
Practical guidance must therefore move beyond announcing a percentage or repeating a forecast. It must establish:
- whether a measure is already legally operative;
- precisely which goods and businesses are affected;
- when the next decision or deadline falls; and
- how the development alters pricing, contracts, sourcing and commercial risk.
Gerald Bratley MCIEx
Author of The Practical Export Guide
www.gbratley.co.uk