Trade defence instruments (TDIs): what EU importers and exporters should know

The European Commission has published its 39th Annual Report on the use of trade defence instruments (TDIs) in 2020. The TDIs are applied to prevent unfair trade practices, mainly cheap imports due to dumping or subsidies, which harm EU producers. However, EU importers, especially SMEs, are often caught by a newly launched TDI unprepared and not aware of the unfair trade. The price of unawareness is high - the amount of import duties to be paid may be similar to the price of the goods themselves.