In August 2025, the European Commission adopted several regulations imposing anti-dumping duties on products imported from China and India.
In August 2025, the European Commission adopted a series of five regulations imposing provisional anti-dumping duties on various imports, mainly from the People’s Republic of China. This wave of measures, taken within a short period of time, signals a response to dumping practices that have caused material injury to several EU industries. The investigations, which were generally opened in December 2024 following sectoral complaints, systematically rely on the “significant distortion” methodology to circumvent Chinese market prices, reconstructing the “normal value” of the products on the basis of third-country costs. This summary presents a consolidated analysis of these five legislative acts.
Regulation (EU) 2025/1711 of August 4 concerns seamless high-pressure steel cylinders from China. The investigation established clear injury to the European industry, manifested in a decline in sales volumes, market share, and price pressure, despite rising consumption in the Union. A direct causal link was recognized between the massive increase in low-priced Chinese imports and this injury. As a result, the Commission imposed provisional anti-dumping duties, with rates varying according to the exporter, in order to restore fair competition.
Regulation (EU) 2025/1723 of August 6 imposes a provisional anti-dumping duty on prepared or preserved sweetcorn in kernels originating in China. The investigation confirmed dumping practices and significant distortions within the Chinese economy that distorted input prices. To counterbalance these practices, individual duties were established, amounting, for example, to 37.5% for the Sunflower Group and 54.3% for the Tongfa Group. The Commission considered that this protection of the Community industry was in the general interest of the Union, while taking into account the effects on importers and consumers.
Regulation (EU) 2025/1724 of August 8 stands out in that it targets barium carbonate originating in China and India. This text details the method for determining normal value, which must be calculated at the “ex-works” level, taking into account undistorted production costs. It specifies that overheads and profit margins are calculated on the basis of the financial statements of representative producers and that only profitable sales on the domestic market should be taken into account. This rigorous methodological framework aims to ensure a fair comparison with export prices for the two countries concerned.
Regulation (EU) 2025/1737 of August 13 targets imports of valine, an amino acid, from China. The investigation revealed a marked downward trend in import prices, which fell from EUR 4,156/ton in 2021 to EUR 3,002/ton in 2023, a drop of 28%. This decline had a devastating impact on the profitability of the Union industry, which suffered considerable losses. The Commission found price undercutting for 99% of the imported volumes, with dumping margins ranging from 9.5% to 22.2%, justifying the imposition of provisional duties.
Finally, Regulation (EU) 2025/1732, also dated August 13, applies to candles, tapers, and similar articles originating in China. This case is particularly telling: between 2021 and the investigation period, Chinese imports increased by 40% and their market share rose to 22%, while EU production fell by 29% and profitability dropped to 3–4%. The Commission confirmed a specific distortion in the price of paraffin in China. The provisional duties are among the highest in this series, with margins of up to 70.9% for non-cooperating imports.
In conclusion, this set of regulations illustrates the European Commission’s coordinated effort to defend its industry against abnormally low-priced imports. The consistency of the methodological approach, based on the identification of significant distortions, and the similarity of the patterns of injury observed give this legislative package a strong sense of unity. These provisional measures represent an emergency defensive action, with investigations continuing to determine whether definitive duties, and at what levels, will be imposed to ensure sustainable fair competition in the single market.
