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Customs & Duties

For most UK importers, the standard UKGT duty rate is the only tariff that applies to their goods. But for a specific set of product categories from specific countries, an additional charge sits on top — anti-dumping duty. This can add 10–30% or more to the landed cost of affected goods, and it catches importers off guard precisely because it doesn't appear in basic commodity code lookups unless you know to check for it.

What Anti-Dumping Duty Is

Anti-dumping duty is an additional tariff imposed when goods are exported to the UK at a price below their "normal value" — typically defined as the price at which they are sold in the exporting country's domestic market. When foreign goods are sold at artificially low prices to undercut UK producers, the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) can investigate and recommend anti-dumping measures. If confirmed, HMRC applies a specific additional duty rate on top of the standard UKGT rate.

The purpose is to protect UK producers from being undercut by imports priced below cost or subsidised in ways that distort competition. Anti-dumping measures are governed by WTO rules and are country- and product-specific — they don't apply to all imports of a product type, only to imports from the specific countries where dumping has been found.

How the UK Sets Anti-Dumping Measures

Post-Brexit, the UK operates its own trade remedy system through the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA), which inherited and reviewed the EU's anti-dumping measures that were in force when the UK left the EU. The TRA investigates complaints from UK industry, conducts formal reviews of existing measures, and recommends whether to apply, extend, or revoke anti-dumping duties. Final decisions are made by the Secretary of State.

Anti-dumping measures are reviewed periodically and can be extended, amended, or removed. This means the rate that applies today may not be the rate that applies in two years — an important consideration when building pricing models for products in affected categories.

Key Products Currently Subject to Anti-Dumping Duty

The range of goods subject to UK anti-dumping measures is narrower than many importers fear, but includes some very significant categories:

• Steel products from China and other countries: this is the largest category. Hot-rolled steel, cold-rolled steel, certain steel tubes, stainless steel products, and other steel forms from China face anti-dumping rates that can reach 20–35% on top of the standard duty. Rates vary significantly by product sub-type and are exporter-specific in some cases.
• Ceramic tiles from China: UK anti-dumping measures apply to certain ceramic floor and wall tiles originating in China. Rates vary but can be significant for importers in the construction or interior design sectors.
• Bicycles and folding e-bikes from China: a long-standing anti-dumping measure — conventional bicycles from China have faced anti-dumping duties in both the UK and EU for many years, and the UK measure has been maintained. The separate measure on e-bikes was narrowed in 2025 and now covers folding e-bikes only; non-folding e-bikes are outside its scope. Verify current rates and scope before ordering.
• Certain chemical products: including some fibres, resins, and industrial chemicals from specific countries.
• Optical fibre cables from China: single mode optical fibre cables from China carry definitive anti-dumping duties of 23% for listed cooperating exporters and 46.2% for all other exporters, in force since 2023.

A Worked Example

A UK network installer imports £5,000 of single mode optical fibre cable from China for a fibre broadband contract. The Chinese exporter is not on the TRA's list of cooperating exporters, so the residual anti-dumping rate of 46.2% applies (Trade Remedies Notice 2023/22).

The anti-dumping duty adds over £2,400 to a £5,000 order, and because import VAT is charged on the duty-inclusive value, the landed cost ends up around 46% higher than it would be without the measure — none of which is apparent from the standard UKGT rate alone (0% for this product). Check for additional measures before placing significant orders in affected categories, and check whether your supplier is on the cooperating-exporter list: the gap between the 23% and 46.2% rates is worth over £1,200 in duty on this order alone.

How to Check If Anti-Dumping Duty Applies

The UK Trade Tariff online tool displays all applicable duties — including anti-dumping and countervailing duties — for any commodity code and country of origin combination. When you look up a commodity code, the tool shows not just the standard UKGT rate but also any additional measures that apply to imports from specific countries. These are listed under "measures" for the relevant commodity code.

The key step is to look up your specific commodity code and confirm the origin country before placing a large order. Don't rely on a supplier quoting you the standard duty rate — check the Trade Tariff yourself, or use ClearDuty which applies all applicable measures for your commodity code and origin. The full guide to UK import duty calculation covers how all the cost components — standard duty, anti-dumping duty, import VAT — interact in the total landed cost. Getting the correct commodity code is particularly important for anti-dumping checks because measures can apply to narrow sub-headings within a broader category.