Commission opens anti-dumping investigation into polyvinylidene fluoride from China, India, Japan

The European Commission has opened an anti-dumping investigation into imports of polyvinylidene fluoride from the People’s Republic of China, India and Japan, after a complaint lodged on 14 September 2026 by or on behalf of the Union industry. The notice of initiation was published in the Official Journal of the European Union, C series, on 28 October 2026 under reference C/2026/5554, and interested parties wishing to comment on the product scope have 10 days from that date to do so.

The proceeding rests on Article 5 of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 of 8 June 2016, the basic anti-dumping Regulation. The Commission states that, after informing the Member States, it established that the complaint was lodged by the Union industry and that there is sufficient evidence to justify initiating an investigation into whether the product is being dumped and whether the dumped imports have caused injury to Union producers.

The product under investigation is polyvinylidene difluoride, also named poly(vinylidene fluoride), in primary form, including PVDF copolymers containing vinylidene fluoride and other monomers. It is currently classified under CN code ex 3904 69 80, with TARIC codes 3904 69 80 97 and 3904 69 80 98, codes given for information only and without prejudice to a later tariff reclassification. The dumping and injury investigation covers 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026, while injury trends are examined from 1 January 2022 to the end of that period.

Three origins, three calculation methods

For the People’s Republic of China, the complainant argued that domestic prices and costs cannot be used because of significant distortions within the meaning of Article 2(6a)(b) of the basic Regulation, relying on the Commission Staff Working Document SWD(2024) 91 final of 10 April 2024. Normal value is therefore constructed from undistorted costs and benchmarks, and the complainant identified Brazil as an appropriate representative country; the Commission considers Brazil a possible appropriate third country.

For India, in the absence of reliable domestic price data, the allegation compares a constructed normal value, including manufacturing, selling, general and administrative costs and profit, with the ex-works export price to the Union. For Japan, the comparison is between domestic prices and the ex-works export price. The Commission states that the dumping margins calculated on these bases are significant in all three cases.

On injury, the complainant submitted evidence that imports rose overall in absolute terms and in market share, depressing the quantities sold, prices and market share of the Union industry, whose financial and employment situation deteriorated and which could not raise prices in line with raw material and energy costs. It also pointed to freely disposable capacity in the countries concerned and an imminent, substantial increase in that capacity.

Deadlines for industry and traders

• 7 days: sampling information from exporting producers and from unrelated importers, using the form annexed to the notice; comments on the provisional sample of Union producers.
• 10 days: information on the product scope.
• 15 days: requests for a hearing on the initiation; views on the inputs, HS codes and proposed representative country for China.
• 37 days: comments on the complaint and on the initiation, including Union interest submissions.
• 65 days: factual information from public sources to establish costs and prices under Article 2(6a)(a).
• 70 days: other information for the provisional findings stage, with comments on other parties’ submissions due by day 75.
• 30 days from notification of the sample decision: completed questionnaires.

Provisional measures may be imposed no later than seven months, and in any event not later than eight months, after publication, while the investigation must conclude within one year and at most 14 months. Four weeks before any provisional duty, the Commission will disclose the planned imposition, with three working days for parties to comment on the accuracy of the calculations.

Registration and non-cooperation

The Commission intends to instruct customs authorities to register imports of PVDF from the three countries at an early stage of the investigation, through a separate regulation to be published in due time, which may lead to retroactive collection of definitive duties. Parties that fail to cooperate may see findings based on the facts available under Article 18 of the basic Regulation, a result that may be less favourable to them. Submissions go through TRON.tdi under case 2915, and the Hearing Officer for trade proceedings is available for disputes over file access, confidentiality, extensions and defence rights.

The initiation puts exporters and importers of a plastic raw material used throughout European chemical supply chains on notice that duties could follow within months, and that imports moving from now on may be clawed back retroactively if the case ends with measures.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, C series, C/2026/5554, 28 October 2026, notices (official reference: C/2026/5554).