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Anti-Dumping Duties on Chinese Goods: What Business Buyers Need to Know
How US anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Chinese goods work: cash deposits, importer liability, scope rulings, evasion and how to check a product.
By Beato Capital · Updated · 8 min read
Anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing (CVD) duties are the tariffs most likely to wreck a China import budget, because they apply to specific products, can be several times the price of the goods, and land on the importer of record, sometimes years after the goods were sold. This guide explains how the orders work, how to check a product, and which orders matter for commercial buyers of furniture, fit-out materials and equipment.
What an AD/CVD order is
An anti-dumping order is an extra duty on a specific product from a specific country, imposed when the Department of Commerce finds it is sold in the US below fair value and the US International Trade Commission (USITC) finds that this injures a US industry. A countervailing duty order does the same for unfair government subsidies. Many Chinese products carry both.
| Anti-dumping (AD) | Countervailing (CVD) | |
|---|---|---|
| Targets | Prices below “normal value” | Government subsidies to producers |
| Who decides | Commerce (margin) and USITC (injury) | Commerce (subsidy rate) and USITC (injury) |
| Case number for China | A-570-xxx | C-570-xxx |
| Rate | Per exporter, plus a China-wide rate for exporters without their own | Per exporter, plus an all-others rate |
An order runs until it is revoked. Commerce can recalculate rates in yearly administrative reviews when someone requests one, and every five years a “sunset” review decides whether the order continues. Many do: the wooden bedroom furniture order dates from 2005 and is still in force.
AD/CVD is separate from Section 301 and Section 232 tariffs and comes on top of them. The other layers are covered in our China tariffs 2026 tracker.
How cash deposits and the importer’s liability work
At entry, the importer of record pays a cash deposit at the rate that applies to that exporter. It is only an estimate. The final duty is set later, after an administrative review, and if it is higher, CBP bills the difference plus interest to the importer of record (CBP AD/CVD FAQ).
This “retrospective” system has practical consequences:
- The bill can arrive years later. Entries stay unliquidated until Commerce finishes its review, and the importer of record remains liable.
- The exporter’s name matters. An exporter with its own rate may pay far less than the China-wide rate. If your factory sells through a trading company, the rate follows the exporter and producer combination named in the order.
- Zero is not “not covered.” Covered goods are filed as type 03 (AD/CVD) entries even when the deposit rate is zero, and if a higher rate is set later you are billed for the difference.
- No reimbursement deals. Before liquidation, the importer certifies whether the exporter reimbursed the duties. If no statement is filed, CBP presumes reimbursement and doubles the duties.
To show the scale, here are two China-wide rates taken from Commerce’s own notices. For wooden bedroom furniture, the China-wide cash deposit rate is 216.01% (Commerce, Aug. 12, 2026). For golf carts and other low-speed personal transportation vehicles, the China-wide anti-dumping rate is 478.09%, before the separate countervailing duty (Commerce, Aug. 12, 2025). Both were verified October 15, 2026. Rates change with every review, so check them at entry.
Scope: the description decides, not the HTS code
Whether an order covers your product depends on the written scope in the order, not on its HTS code; CBP says plainly that the scope description controls and that Commerce, not CBP, decides coverage (CBP). When the scope is unclear, an importer can ask Commerce for a scope ruling.
Two examples show why this matters:
- Hotel guestrooms. The wooden bedroom furniture scope lists wooden beds, headboards, night stands, dressers, wardrobes, chests and armoires, and it excludes seating, mattresses, office furniture, dining furniture, TV cabinets and pieces made mainly of wicker, cane, bamboo or rattan (scope text). That list reads like a hotel guestroom package, so every hospitality FF&E project needs a scope check.
- Third-country assembly. In July 2024, Commerce ruled that wooden cabinets and vanities finished in Malaysia or Vietnam with Chinese components fall within the China orders, and it added certification requirements (Commerce). Moving final assembly out of China does not automatically move the product out of an order.
Scope applications are filed through Commerce’s ACCESS system. While an inquiry runs, you pay deposits; if the product is found to be outside the order, they are refunded.
Evasion and EAPA
Evasion means entering covered goods without paying the AD/CVD owed: transshipping through a third country, declaring a false origin, misdescribing the product or undervaluing it. Under the Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA), CBP investigates allegations, can impose interim measures around day 90, and decides on evasion by day 300 or 360 (CBP EAPA). The importer is the one investigated, even if the supplier designed the scheme.
Quartz is the textbook case. In EAPA case 7722, an importer declared Chinese slabs as “artificial marble and/or artificial stone.” CBP found they were engineered quartz covered by the quartz orders, suspended the importer’s entries, converted earlier entries to AD/CVD entries and reviewed its bonds (CBP, EAPA 7722). CBP has also found quartz transshipped through Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan.
The lesson for buyers: if a quote for an AD-covered category is suspiciously cheap, or the “origin” is a country with no real industry for that product, ask why before you order. Our factory audit checks that a factory actually makes what it sells. For stone specifically, see our stone sourcing page.
How to check whether your product is covered
Check before you order, using the order’s scope and the exporter’s name, then check again at entry. A licensed customs broker or trade lawyer should confirm anything borderline.
- Describe the product precisely: material, construction, use and the 10-digit HTS code.
- Search Commerce’s case list in ACCESS and CBP’s AD/CVD search by product name and HTS code.
- Cross-check the USITC’s list of orders in effect.
- Read the scope in the latest Federal Register notice for the order, including its exclusions.
- Get the exporter’s and producer’s names. The cash deposit rate depends on them.
- If it’s unclear, get professional advice and consider a scope ruling before you commit to volume.
- Recheck at entry. Rates change with every administrative review.
Orders that matter for commercial buyers
These are the AD/CVD orders on Chinese goods that come up most in our categories. We list no rates on purpose: they differ by exporter and change with each review. Each source is the most recent Commerce notice we found that shows the order in force, checked October 15, 2026.
| Product | Case numbers | Where it bites | Primary source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wooden bedroom furniture | A-570-890 | Hotel guestroom casegoods: beds, headboards, night stands, dressers, wardrobes | Review results, Aug. 2026 |
| Wooden cabinets and vanities | A-570-106, C-570-107 | Kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, their components | Continuation, Sep. 2025 |
| Quartz surface products | A-570-084, C-570-085 | Engineered quartz slabs and countertops | Continuation, Jan. 2025 |
| Ceramic tile | A-570-108, C-570-109 | Ceramic and porcelain floor and wall tile | Continuation, Mar. 2026 |
| Mattresses | A-570-092 | Hotel and residential mattresses | Continuation, May 2025 |
| Hardwood plywood | A-570-051, C-570-052 | Panels for millwork and furniture | Continuation, May 2023 |
| Drawn stainless steel sinks | A-570-983, C-570-984 | Kitchen and bar sinks in restaurants and hotels | Continuation, Feb. 2024 |
| Steel racks | A-570-088, C-570-089 | Storage and warehouse racking and parts | Continuation, Mar. 2025 |
| Boltless steel shelving | A-570-018, C-570-019 | Prepackaged shelving units for stores and back rooms | Sunset review, Jul. 2026 |
| Aluminum extrusions | A-570-967, C-570-968 | Aluminum profiles, including ones used as parts of furniture, fixtures and lighting | Continuation, Nov. 2022 |
| Paper shopping bags | A-570-152, C-570-153 | Retail and restaurant paper bags with handles | AD order, CVD order, Jul. 2024 |
| Low-speed personal transportation vehicles | A-570-176, C-570-177 | Golf carts and low-speed vehicles for resorts and venues | Orders, Aug. 2025 |
| Folding metal tables and chairs | A-570-868 | Revoked, effective November 6, 2012 | Revocation |
A few notes on the table:
- Boltless steel shelving went through its second sunset review in 2026. Commerce found dumping would likely continue, and the USITC determined in September 2026 that the orders should stay (USITC notice).
- Paper shopping bags fall under orders on several countries; the China case numbers are A-570-152 (AD) and C-570-153 (CVD).
- Wooden bedroom furniture and mattresses are separate orders; the furniture scope excludes mattresses.
The folding tables and chairs order was revoked in 2012
There is no anti-dumping order on folding metal tables and chairs from China. Commerce revoked it in a 2012 sunset review because no US producer took part, effective November 6, 2012 (Commerce).
That makes banquet and event furniture one of the clearer categories to import from China, but not a duty-free one. Section 301 and the forced-labor tariff still apply, a steel frame raises the Section 232 metals question, and an aluminum frame should be checked against the aluminum extrusions scope. Our what not to import from China guide covers categories that are harder.
How we handle AD/CVD
We check anti-dumping and countervailing duties before every quote, not after the goods ship, so the exposure is on the table before you commit.
When we act as importer of record on a DDP shipment, the entries are filed through our partner customs broker. Our price lock covers factory, freight and exchange-rate changes, but not government tariff and duty changes, which are passed on. If you would rather use your own broker, every service is available separately. The step-by-step process is in our guide to importing from China to the USA, and the landed cost calculator adds the duty layers to your factory price.
Key takeaways
- AD/CVD orders cover specific products from specific countries, and they come on top of Section 301 and Section 232 tariffs.
- The deposit paid at entry is an estimate; the importer of record owes any increase, plus interest, when the entry liquidates.
- Rates depend on the exporter and producer, so get their names before you order.
- The written scope decides coverage, not the HTS code; ask Commerce for a scope ruling when it’s unclear.
- Assembling in a third country or relabeling the product does not escape an order, and EAPA investigations target the importer.
- Check ACCESS, the CBP AD/CVD search and the USITC list before ordering, and recheck rates at entry.
- Folding metal tables and chairs from China have had no AD order since 2012.