Commission publishes guide to help EU producers with anti-dumping complaints

International trade is a powerful engine for economic growth and welfare. That is why the European Union is committed to open markets and free trade. But free trade must be fair, and that is not always the case. Unfair trading practices such as dumping can harm EU producers, who very often see their sales decrease and are forced to lower their prices to compete with dumped imports in the Union market.

In such situations, EU producers can submit a formal anti-dumping complaint to the European Commission. If that complaint contains sufficient evidence of dumping and the resulting injury to EU industry, the Commission will start an investigation that can result in the imposition of anti-dumping duties on those imports, restoring a level-playing field in the Union market.

Lodging an anti-dumping complaint can, however, be a challenging exercise for companies, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that often lack the information, knowledge, and means to react to unfair competition from dumped imports, but may be particularly vulnerable to their effects. To help companies through this exercise, the Commission has published an updated Guide on how to make an anti-dumping complaint in all European Union languages.

Besides explaining the necessary contents of a complaint and the supporting evidence that the Commission needs to decide whether it can initiate a formal anti-dumping investigation, the guide provides a structured format to help companies prepare complaints, links to information sources, forms to facilitate the provision of data and step-by-step guidance for calculations. It also includes a section on how to prepare expiry review requests with a view to maintaining existing anti-dumping measures.

For more information

How to make an anti-dumping complaint – a guide

Help for SMEs – trade defence

Anti-dumping policy