EU hits Chinese PET Spunbond with definitive duties up to 48.1%

The Commission has imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on PET Spunbond from ChinaEuropa: 39.8% for Hubei Unibon NonwovensEuropa, 48.1% for the TDF group (Changde Tiandingfeng Nonwovens and Tiandingfeng Nonwovens)Europa, 47.1% for the other cooperating companies named in the AnnexEuropa, and 48.1% for all other imports from ChinaEuropa. The rates apply to the net, free-at-Union-frontier price before duty. Amounts secured under the provisional duty imposed on 14 May 2026 by Regulation (EU) 2026/1063 are collected definitively up to these levelsEuropa, and anything secured above them is releasedEuropa. Because the dumping margins did not exceed the injury level, the duties were set at the dumping margins under Article 7(2) of the basic Regulation.

The product is certain non-woven needle-punched sheets of polyester filamentsEuropa, whether or not reinforced by glass fibres, weighing more than 70 g/m2, of a thickness exceeding 0.5 mm but not exceeding 1.8 mm, impregnated with one or more binders, containing less than 30% of glass fibres by weight, not coated or covered. It currently falls under CN codes ex 5603 13 90, 5603 14 20 and ex 5603 14 80 (TARIC codes 5603 13 90 70 and 5603 14 80 70) and originates in the People's Republic of ChinaEuropa.

The Commission opened the investigation on 15 September 2025 by a Notice of Initiation (C/2025/5010) after a complaint lodged on 8 August 2025 by Freudenberg Performance Materials and Johns Manville, the sole known Union producers, on behalf of the Union industry. Imports were put under registration by Regulation (EU) 2025/2409 of 1 December 2025. A 16 April 2026 pre-disclosure and 14 May 2026 provisional duties were followed by final and additional final disclosures that revised margins — Hubei Unibon's dumping margin fell from 45.6% to 39.8% after its claims on the acrylic emulsion code and the lignite benchmark were accepted.

Injury rests on a surge outpacing demand: consumption rose 15% while Chinese imports rose 417%, lifting their share from 6% in 2022 to 26% in 2024, as Union sales fell 10%. Chinese imports undercut Union prices by over 26% in the investigation period; the Union industry cut prices 21% and profitability collapsed from 15–16.5% in 2022 to a 0.5–1.5% loss, with return on investment down from 81% to minus 6%. Turkish imports, energy costs, geopolitics and weak innovation were examined and rejected as causes, and no compelling Union-interest reasons barred measures: Italian users' objections to duties of almost 50% on a key input lacked evidence, while a Polish downstream association backed the measures. The measures run for five yearsEuropa, with an interim review requestable after one year.

The individual rates apply only against a valid commercial invoice carrying the signed manufacturer declaration set out in Article 1(3)Europa; without it the 48.1% residual rate appliesEuropa. New exporters with no shipments in the 1 July 2024–30 June 2025 investigation period, unrelated to measured producers and exporting since or holding irrevocable contracts, can join at the 47.1% rate. There is no retroactive collectionEuropa: post-initiation registered volumes averaged below 1,000 tonnes a month against 1,467–1,792 tonnes in the investigation period, so the Article 10(4) test failed, and the complainants' retroactivity claim was rejected. The Official Journal edition carrying the regulation is dated 30 October 2026Europa and Article 4 sets entry into force on the day after publicationEuropa, so the duties take effect on 31 October 2026Europa. Legal basis: Article 9(4) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036, applied by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2393.