Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Cameron Brewer has today refused to protect New Zealand’s aluminium extrusion industry from state-subsidised imports, putting more than 1,000 manufacturing jobs in Hamilton, New Plymouth, and Wellington at risk.
E tū, which represents workers at the plants, says the decision is a betrayal. The union is calling on every political party to commit to revisiting it after the election.
Extrusion plants take raw aluminium and shape it into the parts for windows, doors, buildings, trucks, and boats. Imports now land here at prices at or below what the raw metal alone costs local manufacturers. According to MBIE figures, extrusion imports jumped 34% in the first seven months of this year.
E tū backed the industry’s application for safeguard measures, which are temporary limits on imports. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) investigated and accepted the industry is being seriously harmed. Officials still said it was too early to know whether the surge would continue, and Brewer turned the application down.
E tū National Secretary Rachel Mackintosh says the Minister looked at the evidence and chose to do nothing.
“MBIE agrees this industry is being seriously harmed. The Minister has that in black and white and he’s walked away anyway,” Rachel says.
“These are skilled, secure jobs. Some of our members have worked on the same site for 30 years. Today they’ve been told their jobs don’t matter.
“Unemployment is at 5.6%, the highest in more than a decade. Thousands of Kiwis are leaving for Australia every month and this Government is adding to the queue.”
Rachel says officials want to wait and see whether the flood of imports is a trend.
“Our members can’t afford to wait. By the time officials are sure, these plants could be gone. Once they close, they don’t reopen.
“This is predatory pricing backed by foreign government subsidies. No worker can compete with imports priced at the cost of the raw metal, however hard they work. Australia, Canada, the US, and Europe all act to protect their industries from exactly this. Mr Brewer has left New Zealand workers on their own.”
She says the damage won’t stop at the factory gate.
“If we lose the ability to make these products here, we lose it for good. Every builder and manufacturer in the country will be stuck with offshore prices and shipping delays. We learned that lesson the hard way during COVID.
“Every party in this election needs to tell workers in Hamilton, New Plymouth, and Wellington where it stands. Will it fight for New Zealand manufacturing or let it die? Our members will be asking and they’ll remember the answer when they vote.”