Malaysia has imposed provisional anti-dumping duties of between 4.41% and 35.06% on selected flat-rolled steel products imported from China, Taiwan and Vietnam, after a preliminary investigation found evidence that the products were being sold below their home-market prices and harming local manufacturers. Business Today reported that the duties took effect on Saturday, 7 November 2026.

The measures cover flat-rolled products of alloy and non-alloy steel that are plated or coated with aluminium and zinc, originating in or exported from the three economies. The duties will apply for up to 120 days while the investigation continues, and importers will secure them through guarantees equivalent to the dumping margins established in the preliminary determination.

Malaysia's Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) said the provisional duties were necessary to prevent further injury to the domestic industry. The ministry said it had completed its preliminary determination and found sufficient evidence to warrant further investigation into the imports.

The investigation was opened on 17 July 2026 under the Countervailing and Anti-Dumping Duties Act 1993 and the Countervailing and Anti-Dumping Duties Regulations 1994. It followed a petition submitted by NS BlueScope Malaysia on behalf of the domestic industry, which alleged that steel products from the three sources were entering Malaysia at prices below those in their own markets and causing material injury to local producers.

MITI stressed that the preliminary findings do not conclude the investigation. Further assessments are required before a final determination is made, and the ministry has invited importers, foreign producers, exporters and trade associations to submit comments on the preliminary findings by 16 November 2026.

A final determination is expected no later than 6 March 2027. That decision will establish whether definitive anti-dumping duties should be imposed on the products, and at what rates. Until then, the provisional duties give domestic producers temporary protection from import price pressure while the inquiry runs its course.

China is the world's largest steel exporter, and Vietnam and Taiwan are also major suppliers of flat steel products across Southeast Asia, so the duties touch a significant share of the region's steel trade. For Malaysian buyers, the provisional rates add a cost to imports from the three sources while the investigation is open, and the final determination in March will decide whether that cost becomes permanent.

The case is the latest in a series of Malaysian trade-remedy actions on steel. In a separate case, Malaysia imposed five-year definitive anti-dumping duties from May 2025 on flat-rolled iron and non-alloy steel products and tinplate from China, India, Japan and South Korea, following a petition by local producer Perusahaan Sadur Timah Malaysia. The new provisional duties show Kuala Lumpur continuing to use the same legal tools to shield its steel industry as regional competition intensifies.