Chinese aspirin ingredient registered for retroactive duties

Imports into the EU of acetylsalicylic acid from China are now recorded at the borderEuropa so that anti-dumping duties can later be collected retroactively on those consignmentsEuropa. Under Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2390Tulli, customs authorities register all imports of o-acetylsalicylic acid (CAS RN 50-78-2) originating in ChinaEuropa, currently classified under CN code ex 2918 22 00Tulli (TARIC code 2918 22 00 20Tulli). Registration started on 30 October 2026Tulli, the day after the regulation's publication in the Official Journal, and runs for nine monthsTulli.

The registration sits inside an anti-dumping proceeding the Commission opened on 23 September 2026Europa with regard to imports into the Union of acetylsalicylic acid originating in ChinaEuropa. The case followed a complaint lodged on 10 August 2026Europa by Novacyl SASEuropa on behalf of producers accounting for more than a quarter of total Union productionEuropa. The Commission imposed registration on its own initiative under Article 14(5) of the basic anti-dumping Regulation (EU) 2016/1036Europa. Its purpose is strictly protective: if the investigation ends in definitive duties, those duties may be levied retroactively on the registered importsTulli, provided the legal conditions for retroactivity are metEuropa. Those conditions will be assessed in the regulation imposing any definitive duties, and any future liability flows from the findings of the investigation, not from the registration itself.

The complaint's arithmetic gives a first sense of the exposure without fixing it. It estimates dumping margins of 20 to 45 per centEuropa and an injury elimination level of 49 to 78 per centEuropa for 2025, with any eventual duty normally set at the lower of the two under the lesser-duty rule in Article 9(4) of the basic RegulationEuropa. The regulation stresses that the Commission cannot yet estimate the real liability and that the complaint figures are for information only. Importers should therefore provision for a material retroactive charge without treating the top of the range as the rate.

For Finnish importers the practical point is that Tulli records the goods but decides nothing. The Commission runs the investigation for the whole Union, and Tulli only passes the message on. Registration covers imports of the product declared under CN code ex 2918 22 00 (TARIC code 2918 22 00 20)Europa, and businesses with ongoing contracts for Chinese acetylsalicylic acid should track the investigation timetable and price the retroactivity risk into 2026 to 2027 sourcing until the nine-month window closesEuropa.

Legal basis: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2390, Articles 1 and 2; Regulation (EU) 2016/1036, Articles 9(4) and 14(5).