Trade defence instruments (TDI): anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard measures

An importer can have the right code, origin and customs duty rate and still calculate the wrong amount of import duty. A trade defence duty is collected in addition to the customs duty. Several factors decide whether it applies and at what rate. They include the origin of the goods, the company that produced them and the country from which they were consigned. The duty can also be collected on goods imported before the measure was adopted.

These duties are becoming more common. The Commission's 44th annual report on trade defence (COM(2026) 475 of 17 September 2026) counts 232 measures in force at the end of 2025, up from 199 a year earlier. The Commission opened 32 new investigations, against a historical average of 12 a year.

What are trade defence instruments?

• An anti-dumping duty applies where a product is exported to the EU below its normal value, as a rule its price in the exporting country, and this causes injury to EU industry (Regulation (EU) 2016/1036). See the entry 'Anti-dumping duties: the extra duty on dumped imports'.
• A countervailing duty, also called an anti-subsidy duty, offsets a subsidy granted by the government of the country of origin or export (Regulation (EU) 2016/1037).
• A safeguard measure responds to greatly increased imports that cause, or threaten to cause, serious injury to EU producers (Regulation (EU) 2015/478). No dumping or subsidy has to be shown.

The first two apply to goods originating in named countries. A safeguard applies whatever the origin, with exceptions for developing countries with a small share of imports. All three are triggered by release for free circulation, not by transit, customs warehousing or inward processing.

What forms do they take?

• A provisional duty, secured by a guarantee, then a definitive duty. An anti-dumping or countervailing duty expires after five years unless an expiry review maintains it. A safeguard is limited to four years, eight with extensions.
• A price undertaking. The exporter commits to a minimum price and the duty does not apply, unless the undertaking is breached or withdrawn.
• A tariff quota. The safeguard on certain ferro-alloys (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2351) opens quotas by product type and country until 17 November 2028. Above the quota, the duty is the difference between a price threshold and the import price. See the glossary entry 'Tariff quotas: the volume limit that changes the duty'.

Which factors are easy to miss in the calculation?

The producer. The same goods from the same country can carry different rates. A producer with its own rate has a TARIC additional code. Every other company pays the 'all other companies' rate. The anti-dumping entry explains how the rates are set.

The country of consignment. A duty may be extended to the like product from another country, to a slightly modified product, or to parts. The report names transhipment, assembly with little value added, and import under a different Combined Nomenclature (CN) heading. The usual wording covers goods "consigned from" the country, "whether declared as originating in" that country or not. Proof of origin does not remove such a duty.

The date of import. Since October 2024 the Commission has ordered customs to register imports in every new anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation. The definitive duty may then be levied on goods entered up to 90 days before the provisional measures. In an anti-circumvention investigation, the extended duty is collected from the date of registration, which can be nine months back. The plywood case in the anti-dumping entry is a current example.

How do I find the ones that apply to my goods?

Start in TARIC. Check the 10-digit code, the country of consignment as well as the country of origin, and the additional code of the producer. Then read the regulation in the Official Journal. TARIC is a working tool. The regulation is the legal source, and it defines the product by its description.

What should I do in practice?

• Include the trade defence duty in the calculation before you order, not when the goods arrive.
• Know the producer, not only the seller, and keep the valid commercial invoice that the regulation requires for the company rate.
• Follow the Official Journal for new investigations. Once imports of your product are registered, allow for a later duty in prices and contracts.
• Remember who pays. Today the debtor is the declarant (Article 77(3) of the Union Customs Code). Under the new Union Customs Code (Regulation (EU) 2026/2108), which applies from 21 September 2027, the debtor is the importer (Article 183(3)). A false statement by the supplier does not remove the debt.

Did you know?

Monosodium glutamate consigned from Malaysia carries an anti-dumping duty of 39.7%, "whether declared as originating in Malaysia or not". A buyer who calculated with the 6.5% customs duty alone left out the larger part of the import duty. The duty was set for Chinese goods. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/698 extended it to Malaysia from 12 April 2025, and it is also collected on imports registered since 23 July 2024.

You do not have to find this yourself. Smart Taric AI reads TARIC for you. Ask about your code and country, and it shows the customs duty, the trade defence duties and the other measures, with links to the regulations. It adds the national taxes of the member state of import, such as VAT and excise duty. Try Smart Taric AI.