EU imposes anti-dumping duties of up to 24.1% on terephthalic acid imports
On 10 August 2026 the European Commission confirmed definitive anti-dumping duties on EU imports of terephthalic acid from South Korea and Mexico. Duties on Korean imports range from 6.1% to 13.3%, while Mexican imports face a 24.1% duty. The case is a strong protectionism example because it shows a targeted tariff-style measure intended to defend EU producers from dumped imports while creating potential costs for downstream users.
Chain
Dumped imports enter at unusually low prices → anti-dumping duties raise the landed price of affected imports → EU producers become more price-competitive → domestic output may rise and imports may fall → downstream users face higher input costs → the welfare effect depends on whether correcting injurious dumping outweighs the costs of protection
Evaluation
Anti-dumping duties can protect domestic producers from unfairly low-priced imports, but they can also raise costs for firms using the protected product as an input. The net effect depends on demand and supply elasticities, alternative suppliers, the persistence of dumping and whether protection weakens competitive pressure over time.
Diagram
Tariff diagram showing the world price plus an import duty raising the domestic price, reducing imports and expanding domestic supply