Anti-dumping duties and the origin of goods
How EU anti-dumping and countervailing duties attach to origin and to named producers, how long they last, what counts as circumvention, and where to check.
Under Regulation (EU) 2016/1036, EU anti-dumping duties apply to a named product from a named country. They apply when the product’s release for free circulation causes injury to EU industry. Countervailing duties do the same for subsidised imports, under Regulation (EU) 2016/1037. Both follow the goods’ non-preferential origin and are often set per exporting producer. A definitive measure lasts five years unless a review extends it. TARIC, the EU’s integrated tariff database, shows every measure in force by tariff code and origin.
For an importer, three facts decide exposure: what the product is, where it originates, and who made it.
What is the difference between anti-dumping and countervailing duties?
They answer two different distortions.
- Anti-dumping duty. Article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 treats a product as dumped “if its export price to the Union is less than a comparable price for a like product, in the ordinary course of trade, as established for the exporting country.” A duty may be imposed on a dumped product “whose release for free circulation in the Union causes injury.”
- Countervailing duty. Article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2016/1037 allows a duty “to offset any subsidy granted, directly or indirectly, for the manufacture, production, export or transport of any product whose release for free circulation in the Union causes injury.”
The same product can face both, for different reasons. Article 24(1) of the anti-subsidy regulation sets the limit: “No product shall be subject to both anti-dumping and countervailing duties for the purpose of dealing with one and the same situation arising from dumping or from export subsidisation.”
Both duties are charged on release for free circulation. Goods stored under a customs procedure such as bonded warehousing carry the question with them until they are released. Bonded warehouse: deferral, not exemption explains that timing.
Why do anti-dumping duties differ between producers?
Because the regulation sets them that way. The rule is in Article 9(5) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036. It provides that “the regulation imposing anti-dumping measures shall specify the duty for each supplier or, if that is impracticable, the supplying country concerned.”
A single measure on one product from one country can therefore carry several rates. A producer named in the regulation pays its own rate. Other producers in the same country pay the rate the regulation sets for them.
Two consequences follow for an importer.
- The supplier is part of the tariff. Changing factories within the same country can change the duty, even for an identical product.
- The paperwork matters. An importer claiming a named producer’s rate needs to show the goods really come from that producer, in the form the regulation requires.
How long do EU anti-dumping measures last?
Five years, as a rule. Article 11(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 states that a definitive measure “shall expire five years from its imposition or five years from the date of the conclusion of the most recent review which has covered both dumping and injury.”
The measure continues if an expiry review finds that its expiry would be likely to lead to a continuation or recurrence of dumping and injury. A measure renewed this way can run well beyond its first five years.
Countervailing measures follow the same period. Article 18(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1037 provides that a definitive countervailing measure “shall expire five years from its imposition or five years from the date of the most recent review which has covered both subsidisation and injury,” subject to the same kind of review.
How does origin decide whether a duty applies?
Measures name a country. Whether goods “come from” that country is a question of non-preferential origin, under Articles 59 to 61 of the Union Customs Code.
Moving goods through another country does not change their origin by itself. Operations such as relabelling, repacking or simple assembly are listed as minimal operations that confer no origin. The detail is set out in finishing and assembly in the EU: origin rules. A product made in a country under measures, then relabelled in a third country, still originates in the first.
What counts as circumvention of anti-dumping duties?
Article 13(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 allows duties to be extended when circumvention is taking place. The extension can reach imports of the like product from third countries, whether slightly modified or not. It can also reach parts, or imports of the slightly modified like product from the country under measures.
Circumvention means a change in the pattern of trade that stems from a practice with insufficient economic justification other than avoiding the duty. There must also be evidence of injury, or that the remedial effects of the duty are being undermined, and evidence of dumping.
Assembly has its own test in Article 13(2). It is treated as circumvention where:
- the operation started or substantially increased since, or just before, the investigation, and the parts come from the country under measures;
- those parts make up 60 % or more of the total value of the parts of the assembled product;
- the remedial effects of the duty are undermined and there is evidence of dumping.
There is no circumvention where the value added during assembly or completion is greater than 25 % of the manufacturing cost.
How can I check whether anti-dumping duties apply to my product?
In TARIC. The Commission describes it as “a multilingual database integrating all measures relating to the Common Customs Tariff (CCT) and commercial and agricultural legislation.” Its trade defence category includes anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard duties.
TARIC works at a finer level than the Combined Nomenclature. The Court of Justice of the EU describes the TARIC code as the eight-digit CN code supplemented by two additional digits. A search by code and country of origin shows the measures in force for that combination.
A correct tariff code is therefore the entry point. HS codes and Binding Tariff Information covers how that code is set.
Worked example: fittings from a named producer
Suppose a distributor plans to import a line of industrial fittings into Portugal. The details, including the measure, are hypothetical, for the mechanics only.
Its broker looks up the fittings’ code in TARIC with the country of origin. It finds a definitive anti-dumping measure with an individual rate for three named producers and a higher rate for all others. The distributor’s current supplier is one of the named producers.
Later, the supplier proposes shipping part of the volume from a sister plant in the same country. That plant is not named in the regulation. The fittings are identical, but the duty on them would follow the rate for other producers.
A second proposal is to finish the fittings in a third country: cleaning, marking and repacking. Those are minimal operations. The fittings would keep their origin and remain within the measure, and the route could draw a circumvention inquiry.
The distributor keeps the named producer for its EU volume and asks its broker to recheck TARIC before each new contract.
The duty that applies to specific goods from a specific producer is for a customs broker to confirm. The fittings case illustrates the mechanics only, and none of it is legal or customs advice.
What part does EFC play once duties are settled?
EFC does not determine origin, tariff codes or duty liability; those sit with the client and its customs declarant. What EFC provides in Portugal is the import and storage layer around them. The usual route is release for free circulation, and a bonded warehouse serves higher-value, lower-volume goods where deferring duty until release makes sense. It gives no customs advice.
Sources
| Label | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Dumping | export price below a comparable price for the like product; duty where release for free circulation causes injury | Regulation (EU) 2016/1036, Article 1, on EUR-Lex, opened 2026-09-07 |
| Duty per supplier | duty specified for each supplier or, if impracticable, the supplying country | Regulation (EU) 2016/1036, Article 9, on EUR-Lex, opened 2026-09-07 |
| Duration, anti-dumping | expires five years from imposition or last full review, unless an expiry review finds otherwise | Regulation (EU) 2016/1036, Article 11, on EUR-Lex, opened 2026-09-07 |
| Circumvention | extension to third countries, modified products and parts; assembly test at 60 % and 25 % | Regulation (EU) 2016/1036, Article 13, on EUR-Lex, opened 2026-09-07 |
| Countervailing duty | offsets subsidies for manufacture, production, export or transport | Regulation (EU) 2016/1037, Article 1, on EUR-Lex, opened 2026-09-07 |
| Duration, countervailing | expires five years from imposition or last full review, unless a review finds otherwise | Regulation (EU) 2016/1037, Article 18, on EUR-Lex, opened 2026-09-07 |
| No double remedy | not both duties for one and the same situation | Regulation (EU) 2016/1037, Article 24, on EUR-Lex, opened 2026-09-07 |
| TARIC | integrates all CCT, commercial and agricultural measures; trade defence includes anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard duties | European Commission, EU customs tariff (TARIC), opened 2026-09-07 |
| TARIC code structure | eight-digit CN code supplemented by two additional digits | Court of Justice of the EU, fact sheet: tariff classification of goods, December 2025, opened 2026-09-07 |