Anti-dumping duties and customs (China): circumvention and defence
The European Union levies anti-dumping and countervailing duties on certain goods from third countries, above all from China, that go well beyond the normal tariff. The economic incentive to circumvent is correspondingly large, and the models are well known: origin concealment, transshipment through a third country, minor modification of the goods. What looks like optimisation is, in criminal terms, often tax evasion, and both customs and OLAF pursue it with vigour.
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Origin decides
the duty.
What anti-dumping and countervailing duties are.
Anti-dumping duties protect the European market against goods imported below their normal value (dumped); countervailing duties act against subsidised imports. Both are set by the EU on particular product groups and countries of origin and can raise the value of the goods considerably. Because they attach to the origin and the precise commodity code, it is exactly the questions of origin and tariff classification that decide whether the duty is due.
The circumvention models
The typical models start precisely there. In origin concealment, goods are declared with false origin papers as coming from a country that is not affected. In transshipment, they are routed through a third country without being substantially processed there, in order to disguise the true origin. In minor modification, the goods are slightly altered or declared under a different commodity code to fall outside the scope. All three reduce the duties owed, and with that comes criminal liability.
Why this is criminal
Evading import duties is tax evasion under section 370 of the German Fiscal Code (Abgabenordnung, AO), which applies to import duties too. The circumvention is not a customs-law technicality but a criminal allegation, with confiscation of the evaded amount and reassessment of the duties alongside the sentence.
How customs and OLAF investigate
The circumvention of anti-dumping duties is a focus of European anti-fraud work. The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and national customs investigators trace supply chains, examine origin evidence and reconstruct routing across borders. Investigations are document-heavy and often reach back over years of imports.
Where the defence starts
The defence starts with origin, tariff classification and substantial transformation. Was the processing in the third country genuinely insubstantial? Does the commodity code fit the goods? Was the declared origin in fact wrong? These are technical questions of customs and origin law, and they decide whether the allegation of evasion holds at all.
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Anti-dumping circumvention, briefly explained.
Is circumventing anti-dumping duties a crime?
Yes. Evading import duties, including anti-dumping and countervailing duties, is tax evasion under section 370 AO, which applies to import duties too. Confiscation of the evaded amount and a reassessment of duties can follow alongside the sentence.
What is transshipment in this context?
Transshipment means routing goods through a third country without substantial processing there, in order to disguise the true origin and fall outside the scope of the duty. It is one of the three typical circumvention models, alongside origin concealment and minor modification.
Who investigates anti-dumping circumvention?
The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and national customs investigators. The work is document-heavy, traces supply chains across borders and often reaches back over years of imports.
This page gives a general overview and does not replace advice on the individual case. Legal position: 2026.
Related pages.
See our work on customs criminal law and smuggling and on EU sanctions and the Russia embargo.
Origin, tariff, substantial processing.
We test whether the allegation holds and defend against both the penalty and the reassessment of duties.
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