Brussels orders registration of Chinese aspirin imports to allow retroactive duties

The European Commission has made imports of acetylsalicylic acid originating in China subject to customs registration, a step that allows any anti-dumping duties to be levied retroactively on the goods concerned. The measure is contained in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2390 of 28 October 2026, published in the Official Journal of the European Union, L series, on 29 October 2026 (CELEX L_202602390).

The regulation was adopted under Article 14(5) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036, the EU’s basic anti-dumping regulation, after the Member States were informed. It follows the opening of an anti-dumping proceeding on 23 September 2026, announced by notice C/2026/4913, which itself followed a complaint lodged on 10 August 2026 by Novacyl SAS on behalf of producers accounting for more than 25% of total Union production of the substance.

What is being registered

Customs authorities in all Member States are directed to take the appropriate steps to register imports into the Union of the product identified as:

• o-acetylsalicylic acid, CAS RN 50-78-2
• currently classified under CN code ex 2918 22 00
• TARIC code 2918 22 00 20
• origin: the People’s Republic of China

The Commission acted on its own initiative. Registration is intended to ensure that duties, if any, can later be collected retroactively where the legal conditions are met; those conditions will be assessed in the regulation imposing definitive duties. Registration expires nine months after the date of entry into force of the regulation, which takes effect on the day following publication.

The figures cited in the complaint

The calculations submitted with the complaint, covering the period from 1 January to 31 December 2025, estimated:

• dumping margins of between 20% and 45%
• an injury elimination level of between 49% and 78%

Under Article 9(4) of the basic regulation, any future liability would normally be set at the lower of the dumping margin or the injury elimination level. The Commission states explicitly that it is not in a position at this stage to estimate the amount of possible future liability, and that the figures in the complaint are for information only and cannot create expectations as to the actual level eventually established by the investigation.

Data protection

Personal data collected in the context of the registration will be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725. The regulation was signed in Brussels on 28 October 2026 on behalf of the Commission by its President, Ursula von der Leyen, and is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Why it matters

For EU importers, distributors and pharmaceutical buyers, the registration establishes a starting date from which duties could later be charged on goods already cleared for free circulation — a contingent liability that will only be quantified when the investigation concludes. Until then, the exposure remains open and runs on every consignment of Chinese-origin acetylsalicylic acid entered during the nine-month registration window.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series 2026/2390, 29 October 2026, pp. 1-2 (official reference: CELEX L_202602390).