Importers of products subject to anti-dumping or anti-subsidy duties can ask for a refund of duties paid in cases where the dumping margin or the amount of countervailable subsidies has been eliminated or reduced to a level below the level of the duty in force.

 

A request for a refund must be addressed to the customs authorities of the EU country where the duties were paid, which will then transmit it to the European Commission for investigation. You can ask for refunds only for duties determined in the last 6 months before the date of the request. Where the application concerns provisional duties, the 6-month period will start from the date of the decision to definitively collect the amounts.

 

Requests for reimbursement for any other reason (e.g. if the importer believes that the goods should not have been subject to the duties at all because they do not fall under the definition of the product under anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties) are under the exclusive jurisdiction of the national customs authorities of the country where the products were placed into free circulation. The European Commission is not involved.

 

The refund procedure has been revised and made more user-friendly. More detailed information on how to apply for a refund, contact details of the national authorities and detailed guidelines can be found at

http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2013/april/tradoc_151021.pdf for refund of anti-dumping duties and at http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2013/april/tradoc_151026.pdf for countervailing duties (if they relate to an anti-subsidy proceeding).

 

Source: “TDI Trade defence instruments, Anti-dumping & Anti-subsidy - A Guide for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses” by the European Commission