The legal framework
China's anti-dumping regime rests on the Anti-Dumping Regulations of the PRC, the 2004 revision (State Council Order No. 401, effective June 1, 2004), which remains the governing administrative regulation, together with the Foreign Trade Law (last amended December 30, 2022). The investigating authority is the Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), while the actual imposition of provisional and final duties is decided by the State Council Tariff Commission on MOFCOM's recommendation.
How an investigation unfolds
Initiation
MOFCOM decides whether to initiate and publishes the decision (Article 19). Initiation requires a properly supported application by the domestic industry, typically alleging dumping, injury and a causal link.
Provisional measures
If MOFCOM's preliminary determination finds dumping, injury and causation, it may recommend provisional measures — a provisional duty, or a cash deposit, bond or other guarantee, capped at the preliminary margin (Articles 28–29). Provisional measures may last up to four months, extendable to nine, and may not be applied within 60 days of initiation (Article 30).
Price undertakings
An exporter may offer a price undertaking; MOFCOM may suggest but must not coerce one (Article 31). A breach has consequences under Article 36.
Final determination and sunset review
A final duty or undertaking lasts no more than five years, extendable through a sunset review if termination would risk a recurrence of dumping and injury (Articles 48–49).
Where China has been acting
In recent years China's trade-remedy cases have clustered in chemicals and polymers, steel, and agricultural and food products. Recent examples include the anti-dumping case on EU brandy (initiated January 2024, later resolved through a price undertaking), EU pork and pig by-products (initiated June 2024, with provisional margins of 15.6% to 62.4%), and cases on rapeseed and certain polymers. These cases show a pattern: foreign exporters often learn of the investigation only when the initiation notice is published, by which point the questionnaire clock has already started.
What foreign exporters should do
- Respond, and respond on time. Failing to cooperate with MOFCOM's questionnaire can result in determinations based on "facts available," which frequently produces the highest margins.
- Mount the margin defense early. Normal value, export price and adjustments are technical; a well-prepared response can materially reduce the duty.
- Consider a price undertaking. Where it fits commercially, an undertaking can avoid a cash deposit and preserve market access.
- Watch the related remedy. Countervailing and safeguard investigations often run in parallel or follow an anti-dumping case.
Why the timing matters
The sequence is unforgiving: initiation, a preliminary determination, provisional measures, then a final determination. By the time provisional measures hit, the exporter is already paying or posting security. Engaging China trade counsel at the initiation stage — rather than at the final-determination stage — is the single biggest lever on the outcome.
Facing a China trade remedy investigation?
Our international trade team advises exporters on responding to MOFCOM investigations, margin defenses and price undertakings.
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