EU places UK titanium dioxide imports under surveillance to curb duty circumvention

The European Commission has placed imports of titanium dioxide (TiO2) from the United Kingdom under customs surveillance and created new TARIC codes for UK producers, through Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2064 of 17 September 2026, published in the Official Journal (OJ L, 18.9.2026). The regulation amends Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/4, which imposed definitive anti-dumping duties of 0.25 to 0.74 EUR per kg on TiO2 originating in the People’s Republic of China. The new rules enter into force on 19 September 2026, the day after publication.

Context: a duty aimed at dumped Chinese pigment

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/4 of 17 December 2024 imposed the definitive anti-dumping duty on Chinese TiO2 and definitively collected the provisional duty already levied. It was adopted under Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 on protection against dumped imports, and the amendment rests on Article 14(1) of that regulation and on Article 56(5) of the Union Customs Code, Regulation (EU) No 952/2013.

The Commission argues the change is needed because there are no anti-dumping duties on TiO2 from the UK, so imports from production assets now owned by a Chinese exporting producer could not be tracked separately. The measures were backed by the committee set up under Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 and by the Customs Code Committee established by Article 285 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013.

New TARIC codes for UK producers

Article 1 adds a paragraph to Article 1 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/4, creating three TARIC additional codes:

• Tioxide Materials Ltd — code 88ET
• Tronox Pigments UK Limited, a related company of Tronox Pigments Holland B.V., one of the sampled Union producers — code 88EU
• All other UK exporting producers — code 8999

The Commission says the codes will improve data granularity and let it compare UK flows, which face no duties, with the Chinese imports that do.

Surveillance and a possible circumvention probe

Under Article 2, imports under those TARIC codes — or any corresponding future codes — originating in the UK are subject to surveillance under Article 56(5) of the Union Customs Code, so the Commission can follow statistical trends and verify that the duties on Chinese TiO2 are not being circumvented. The surveillance ceases when the anti-dumping duty on Chinese TiO2 is terminated or lapses.

The Commission warns that if UK-based companies significantly increase their exports to the Union while their imports into the UK under TARIC codes 2823 00 00 10, 2823 00 00 30, 3206 11 00 10 and 3206 11 00 30 rise, it may examine whether that increase is linked to circumvention within the meaning of Article 13 of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 and open an investigation under Article 13(3).

The Greatham plant takeover

The regulation sets out the corporate background. On 15 October 2025, Billions Europe Ltd, an indirectly wholly owned subsidiary of LB Group Co., Ltd, agreed to acquire the TiO2 assets formerly operated by Venator Materials UK Limited (in administration) at its Greatham plant in the UK. The UK Competition and Markets Authority cleared the deal on 23 April 2026.

On 27 April 2026, LB Group Co., Ltd. announced completion of the purchase, stating it intended to operate under the Tioxide brand. The acquisition was carried out through LB Titanium UK Ltd (company No 16846918), renamed Tioxide Materials Ltd with effect from 27 April 2026. LB Group is a Chinese exporting producer whose TiO2 shipped from China to the Union is already subject to the 2025/4 duties, while Venator is one of the major TiO2 producers in Europe and North America.

For EU pigment producers, importers and the UK chemicals industry, the change means closer statistical scrutiny rather than a new duty — but it puts the Greatham site’s output on the Commission’s radar and keeps a circumvention investigation on the table.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series, 18 September 2026, 2026/2064 (official reference: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2064; ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2026/2064/oj).