What Are Countervailing Duties?

Accustoming yourself to specific terms in global trade can be beneficial, whether you work in trade or you own a business and are considering upscaling it. One of the most common terms you need to understand is countervailing duties or CVDs. Here, we learn more about the countervailing duties definition and its role in the transnational economy.

What are Countervailing Duties? 

The countervailing duties definition is tariffs on imported products that are given subsidies by the exporting country. The tariffs are designed to neutralize the price to keep the domestic market balanced. As we all know, subsidies could directly impact the price of the products and thus could be harmful for the domestic industries 

It is also necessary to understand the countervailing duties definition through history or their origins. Based on a number of sources, CVDs were found during the heightened sugar and steel trade between European countries and the United States. Thus, the local government was prompted to create antidumping policies. In order to prevent cheaper imported sugar and steel from entering their market freely and to dismantle the balance, the local authorities imposed tariffs or duties. 

In 2025, there are some countries that impose countervailing duties after conducting investigations of potential trade unfair practices. In April 2025, the European Union (EU) implemented countervailing duties on mobile access equipment (MAE) from China due to the unfair subsidies from the Chinese government. The countervailing duties on MEA from China to the EU have ranged from 7.3% to 14.2%, which makes the current duties range from 20.6% to 66.7% based on the combination with the previous duties. 

Other examples from Australia, which has imposed countervailing duties or anti-subsidy duties on silicon metal from China in April 2025. This verdict makes the importation of silicon metal from China subject to an antidumping duty rate of 16.2% and a countervailing duty rate of 29.4%. The combination of antidumping and countervailing duties is 45.6%. 

How are Countervailing Duties regulated? 

However, the enforcement of countervailing duties is heavily regulated and supervised by the World Trade Organization (WTO). Although the existence of countervailing duties is necessary to protect national interests, there are potential that they are used as a political and economic weapon. Therefore, WTO rules set the limit and criterion to ensure that it is fair for both parties.

WTO permits the imposition of countervailing duties after the importing countries have proved to have conducted a thorough investigation into the subsidized exported commodities. They also demand that the importing countries prove by data the potential impact of those subsidies on the domestic industry. WTO also set 5 years as the acceptable duration of the anti-dumping agreement. If you would like to get better and more detailed ideas of the WTO regulations about countervailing duties definition and anti-dumping agreement, you can also check their official document under the title “Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures”. This is prominently obligated for businesses and policymakers as the regulations are applied universally. 

You may have questions on how the countervailing duties are measured and investigated. It is generally procedural, but local authorities are not always the ones who initiate them. Business units and other eligible parties can file a petition to the local authorities. Once the petitions are accepted, the regulators will review and take them into consideration. If they meet the requirements and criteria, the ruling institution can begin an investigation. However, it is to be noted that each country’s approach and procedure for countervailing duties definition can vary. 

What is Anti-dumping? 

The countervailing duties definition is usually followed by anti-dumping. If you wonder what anti-dumping is, it is necessary to understand first what the word ‘dumping’ means in the world trade arena. Dumping is defined as the practice of selling commodities in foreign markets at a lower price compared with the national prices within importing countries. This is why dumping is often considered predatory behaviour due to the intention to change the price balance and potentially ruin the domestic industries, particularly the small to medium-scale business actors. 

Dumping creates unhealthy competition where domestic business actors are forced to reduce their production costs to compete with existing, cheaper foreign products. For small and medium-scale business units, the impact could be detrimental. It may lead to mass lay-offs and the reduction of minimum wages. For instance, in March 2025, India imposed antidumping duties on five imported products originating from China, such as Soft Ferrite Cores, vacuum insulated flasks, aluminium foil, Trichloro Isocyanuric Acid, and Poly Vinyl Chloride Paste Resin, due to being sold lower price than the normal value. As a result, some Indian companies halted mass layoffs and job cuts. This is proof that antidumping duties prevent it from happening, as well as counter the further impacts on the local industries. Hence, nations formulated what we know as anti-dumping regulations.

Main Types of Countervailing Duties

After learning anti-dumping and countervailing duties definition, you may wonder what forms or types of enforcement an importing country can use to protect their national interests and local business. Hereby, the main common types of countervailing duties are: 

• Tariffs: price percentage added to imported goods, similar to taxes.
• Quota: a limit imposed or a regulation of the maximum amount of imported products allowed to enter the domestic market. 
• Minimum import price: a standard price imposed by the importing country on foreign products. 
• Price undertaking: voluntary action by exporters to mark up their original price to avoid further investigation and dispute with the importing country. 

Example of Antidumping and Countervailing Duties

There are many examples of antidumping and countervailing duties definition. One of the recent cases is the glass trade between India and Malaysia. In November 2025, groups of India’s trade watchdog recommended anti-dumping rules on Malaysia for their glass products. Despite not receiving direct subsidies (cash grants) in the glass industry sectors, investigators found evidence that Malaysian glass manufacturers benefit from several domestic policies, such as gas subsidies and tax exemptions. Similar evidence is also found by investigators in the US, and they recommend the same anti-dumping rules for Malaysia. 

It is known that Malaysian float glass has superior quality and is widely used in many industrial sectors such as electronic appliances and architecture. According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), Malaysia is considered one of the top global exporters of float glass. Interestingly, the origins of those float glasses are their neighbouring countries, such as Indonesia, China, Vietnam, and Thailand. 

Another example of antidumping and countervailing duties is visible in the biodiesel trade between the European Union and several Asian countries, like China and Indonesia. According to their investigation, the imported biodiesel from those particular countries could harm their domestic renewable energy market. However, Indonesia filed a complaint to the WTO in 2018, and this led to a dispute. This type of escalation is common in international trade. EU anti-dumping regulation is also affecting the steel and food industries. Historically, the  EU is fairly protective of its domestic steel and metal industries, as well as food. Monosodium Glutamate is also one of the edible substances they monitored and regulated seriously. 

The Multifaceted of Antidumping and Countervailing Duties 

Despite the initial intention of the antidumping agreement, to protect national interest and maintain domestic market balance, it can be potentially abused. Unfair competition between business actors has happened and been proven in the past. Experts in developing countries emphasized the evidence that developed countries have deliberately targeted them for antidumping and countervailing duties. 

There is also evidence that big companies utilize outsourcing strategies to mitigate anti-dumping and countervailing duties. There is no direct relation, but researchers found that outsourcing activities that exploit regional comparative advantages (such as cheap labour) helps the companies become more competitive in global markets. Hence, it reduced their urge to file for countervailing duty petitions. However, despite the fact that outsourcing helps raise employment rates in developing countries, it is often abused to the extent of labour exploitation. 

In another case, countries that are experiencing deindustrialization, like the United States, are monitored to file more antidumping complaints, particularly during the early days of their deindustrialization era in the 1980s. This is a natural response as they start to seek protection from low-priced imported products that flood the domestic market. Interestingly, the same thing does not happen to South Korea during its deindustrialization era. South Korea, unlike the US, has a higher dependency on imported products and integration in global markets. 

Hence, it is clear that antidumping regulations are multifaceted. It can be interpreted in many ways and generates diverse intricacies in the domestic as well as global economy. 

How to find Antidumping and Countervailing Duties on HS Code Match 

Finding antidumping and countervailing duties is important for international trade. These measurements can be found in publications from the government. However, it takes time because we need to scrutinize each government website or visit the WTO website to look up the decisions regarding antidumping duties. In order to solve the complexity of finding the latest antidumping or countervailing duties, HS Code Match appears to assist you in finding these measures. 

Here are several examples of how to find the antidumping and countervailing duties with HS Code Match. We can use several countries in the example, such as India, Malaysia, and the countries within the European Union, above, to find the antidumping or countervailing duties imposed by those countries. 

• First step: Open the HS Code Match and fill in the product name and countries in the Find Best Tariffs tool. For this example, we can choose the exportation of glass from Malaysia to India. However, you can fill in the countries you are from and the destination country, as well as your specific products.

• Second step: Find Best Tariff will show the tariff, HS code, along with the latest regulations, especially on antidumping or countervailing duties. For instance, we can see that there are antidumping duties from India on the importation of glass from Malaysia. For more information, you can click on one of the antidumping notifications, such as “clear float glass. 

• Third step: After clicking the clear float glass, we will be directly moved into the Regulation Details page on HS Code Match. You can gain detailed insights related to the antidumping measure for exporting clear float glass from Malaysia to India. HS Code Match will deliver the range of individual margins due to the imposition of the antidumping duty. 

• Fourth step: We can move to the bottom part of the Regulation Details to find the summary of the antidumping in India. To help you understand more about the antidumping measures, HS Code Match provide the AI chatbot. You can use the suggested question to generate a question related to the antidumping measure in India. 

These are examples of answers related to antidumping and countervailing duties for exporting glass from Malaysia to India on the AI Assistant: 

What are the tariffs for exporting glass from Malaysia to India? 

The tariff for exporting glass from Malaysia to India is impacted by antidumping and countervailing duties. The measures of antidumping India to Malaysian glass products were imposed on 11 November /2020. The measure of antidumping India decides, followed by the investigation since 23 August 2019, which focuses on clear float glass under the HS code 700510. The investigation is conducted due to findings of Malaysian clear float glass products that sold less than the locally produced products. This is an indication that the importation of glass from Malaysia has had a harmful impact on the domestic industry in India. The antidumping duty from India has a calculated margin between the landed value and base value range of USD 272.18 to 326.00, and it depicts the range of individual products and applies to shipments. 

Product Category	HS Code	Tariff Type	Detail of Rate
Clear float glass	700510, 700719	Antidumping	The rate after the antidumping duties in India has ranged from USD 114.58 per MT and USD 272.18 to 326.00 per MT
Textured tempered glass	N/A	Antidumping	This applied to Malaysia’s glass products, which concluded on 26 February 2019 with an affirmative measure
Non-preferential regime (MFN)	N/A	Standard tariff rate	10% based on the MFN regime
Preferential (FTA)	N/A	Free Trade Agreement	0% based on the preferential duty under CECA, ASEAN-India, and GSTP.

What is the process for appealing an antidumping duty assessment on imported glass from Malaysia? 

The appeal for Malaysian glass products must request a formal review from the Indian institution called the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD). The appeal process requires a written application along with the reasons for challenging the determination of duty imposed by the Indian government. This also includes the alleged errors of calculating dumping margin, finding of injury, and incorrect tariff classification of products, which caused the loss. To support the appeal, the requester must provide complete documentation, such as the original export invoice, price records, and market value analysis. Meanwhile, the antidumping tariff rate for exporting clear float glass from Malaysia to India is 10%. The decision of anti-dumping duties in India is based on findings that imported glass from Malaysia is marketed below similar domestically produced products in India. Even though there was a conclusive investigation in 2019, the subsequent investigations decided that there is no proof of injury for clear float glass from Malaysia in March 2021. It means that the antidumping duty from India can potentially be reversed in further investigations. 

Features	Detail
Subject Product	Clear float glass under the HS code 70051010
Exporting country	Malaysia
Tariff rate	10%
Government agency	Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD)
Investigation Period to decide the antidumping measure	1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019
Investigation Period for injury	1 April 2015 to 31 March 2019
Outcome	Affirmative measure application
Appeal process	File a written request with DGAD within the period and provide supporting documentation

How does the DGAD determine whether a product is dumped below the fair price?

Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) is the government body that conducts the investigation of antidumping and countervailing duties for imported products. The indication of the antidumping and countervailing duties is based on the allegation that the imported goods are sold at a lower price than the locally produced products. This practice is affecting the domestic industry and potentially causing job losses or lay-offs in India. The initial process of DGAD involves evaluating materials, including pricing data for the imported products and comparing it with the common price of the products in its country. The determination of this assessment is based on the cost of production, the selling price in the origin country and the selling price in the third country. If the DGAD found out that there are different prices, it will impose the antidumping duties. These are the summary tables of the step-by-step DGAD to determine the antidumping measure. 

Step	Description
First	Initiating the investigation by responding to the reports from domestic producers that there is an allegation of an antidumping practice
Second	Gathering data on exportation to identify that there are discrepancies between the price of exported products and the normally priced products in its country and other countries.
Third	Comparing the export prices in order to grasp the fair price of some products. This process includes the domestic sales or production costs.
Fourth	Determining that the imported products’ prices are below the fair price in the domestic market.
Fifth	DGAD will impose the antidumping duties for related products to ensure that the products are not sold at a fair price, and will protect the domestic industry in India

Other than the example of antidumping from India to the glass product from Malaysia, the other example of the latest antidumping regulation comes from the European Union. The EU antidumping regulation is imposed on the folded-rolled steel products from China on nine HS codes from 7210141 to 722699. Here is the screenshot of the HS Code Match page for the antidumping measure on folded-rolled steel products from China. 

Conclusion 

In this interdependent and integrated economic era, global trade is inevitable. Yet, many countries see transnational trade as a threat to some extent, particularly when it involves resource abundance. Thus, antidumping regulations are invented to create fair competition and prevent domestic economic injuries. However, it is also to be noted that nations have a tendency to prioritise their national interests above all, and that creates protectionist actions. The intergovernmental organization, such as the WTO, is made to restore the balance, but in the realm of policy-making, its decisions can also be disputable. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 

1. Who pays countervailing duties? 

Countervailing duties in the form of taxes are paid by the exporters. It is similar to regular imported tariffs, but it is used to increase the price to counter the unfair lower price of the domestically produced products. 

2. How are countervailing duties calculated? 

Countervailing duties are typically calculated by adding a percentage of the price. While the percentage is determined by the amount of subsidies given to the foreign products.  

3. Are countervailing duties part of non-tariff barriers? 

Yes, countervailing duties can be seen as both tariff and non-tariff barriers. They have several manifestations such as tax, quota, price undertaking, and minimum import price. 

4. Are anti-dumping regulations still applied to outsourced products? 

Yes, anti-dumping regulations are applicable to all foreign products, including those made in outsourced schemes. If they are proven to be a potential dumping ground, they can be objected to by anti-dumping regulations. 

5. What are the examples of antidumping measures imposed recently? 

The latest antidumping measures are implemented by India against the glass products from Malaysia. On the other hand, the European Union antidumping regulation has been imposed on the folded-rolled steel products from China. These measurements are imposed after the investigation by the local authorities. 

6. Can we appeal the antidumping measure on certain countries? 

Yes, the appeal for antidumping measures is allowed in all countries. For example, India allowed the exporters to appeal the decision from the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties on some products. By challenging the verdict, the exporters must be accompanied by the documentation to support their claim, including the invoice, price record, and others. 

7. What happens to the exporters if the antidumping measures are implemented? 

If the antidumping regulation is implemented in a certain country, the price of the imported products will rise significantly. Therefore, it affects the competitiveness of some products in a country. For example, India imposed countervailing duties on the Malaysian glass products, which affects their price in India. Hereby, the people in India tend to choose other glass products rather than Malaysian products if the price is higher.