Jun 29, 2026
AD/CVD in 2026: The Mid-Market Importer's Exposure-Check Workflow
When the U.S. Department of Commerce issued its final antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) determinations on solar cells from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam in April 2025, the CVD rate for Cambodian imports landed at 3,403.96%. That number moved conversations from the trade-compliance team to the executive suite at companies that had never before worried about AD/CVD.
Most importers are well-acquainted with Section 301 tariffs and, increasingly, Section 232 duties. AD/CVD orders are different.They are product-specific, country-specific, and manufacturer-specific. Rates can change every year. And the duty you pay at the border may not be the duty you ultimately owe. If your supply chain touches steel, aluminum, solar products, furniture, tires, chemicals, or a growing list of other goods, a systematic exposure check belongs in your workflow before you place your next purchase order.
This guide walks through how to do that check using free government tools and what to do when the picture gets complicated.
What AD/CVD Is and Why 2026 Made It a Board Issue
Antidumping vs. Countervailing Duties (The Difference)
Two separate legal theories produce two separate sets of orders, though they often arrive in pairs.
Antidumping (AD) duties apply when the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC, the agency that makes injury determinations) finds that foreign producers are selling goods in the United States at less than fair value, meaning below what they charge in their home market or below their cost of production.
Countervailing duties (CVD) apply when Commerce finds that a foreign government is subsidizing its producers through grants, below-market loans, tax breaks, or similar programs in a way that gives those producers an artificial cost advantage.
Both programs run under Title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930. Commerce handles the rate calculations; the USITC makes the injury determination. Both agencies must reach affirmative conclusions before an order takes effect. Once an order is in place, it stays in force until revoked, and it is reviewed at least every five years.
Recent 2026 Orders: Solar III's 3,403.96% CVD and Active Anode Material at 93.5% AD
Two cases defined the current environment for mid-market importers. In April 2025, Commerce finalized AD/CVD orders on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells (solar panels) from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam — the Solar III case. The CVD rate for Cambodia reached 3,403.96%, applied to producers that declined to cooperate with the investigation. Even the "all-others" combined rate for the four countries ranged into the hundreds of percent depending on origin. As the Solar Energy Industries Association noted in its Q2 2025 Market Insight Report, cumulative duty rates across the four countries ranged from 14.64% to 3,500% for certain manufacturers.
Separately, Commerce issued a preliminary antidumping determination of 93.5% on active anode material (AAM), primarily graphite-based material used in lithium-ion batteries, from China.
Why Mid-Market Importers Got Blindsided
Three structural features of AD/CVD law create blind spots for companies without dedicated trade counsel.
First, AD/CVD orders are indexed to the written scope description, not just the HTS (Harmonized Tariff Schedule) code. A product can physically match the scope of an order even if it clears customs under a code that isn't flagged.
Second, rates are not fixed at the time the order issues, they change annually through a process called administrative review, which means a landed cost estimate you built 18 months ago may be wrong today.
Third, the duty you pay at the port is a cash deposit (a provisional estimate), not your final liability. The final assessed rate is set after a later review, potentially years later, and can be higher or lower.
Smaller importers often discover AD/CVD exposure through a CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) Form 28 or Form 29, request for information or a notice of action, after goods have already entered.
The Three-Step Exposure Check
Step 1: Identify HTS Subheadings in Scope
The starting point is your product's 10-digit HTS classification. Every AD/CVD order lists the HTS subheadings associated with covered merchandise, but those numbers are provided for "convenience and customs purposes" only, as Commerce says in its Federal Register notices. The written scope description is legally dispositive (controlling), meaning it overrides the tariff code if the two conflict. Still, the HTS subheadings in the order are the practical filter to use in your initial search.
A product that is misclassified into a code with no AD/CVD flag may still be within scope of an order if its physical characteristics match the scope description. Getting the classification right before you run the exposure check is what determines which cases even show up on your radar. Gaia Dynamics' Classification Engine can help establish the correct 10-digit subheading before you begin.
Step 2: Match Against the USITC Orders Database
With your HTS subheadings in hand, you can use the ACE HTS AD/CVD Search tool provided by CBP or the Department of Commerce's Access Commerce portal. The database lists all active orders and lets you filter by HTS subheading and country of origin. You are looking for any case numbers that cover your product-country combination. Note the case number, you will use it in the next step.
The Department of Commerce also maintains an AD/CVD data visualization tool at trade.gov that allows you to filter active orders by HTS number and country. Running both searches is worth the effort, because the data structures are slightly different and a case you miss in one interface may surface in the other.
Step 3: Verify Country and Manufacturer Specificity
Finding an order that matches your HTS code is only the beginning. Two additional facts determine whether your shipment is actually covered and at what rate.
Country of Origin: orders are country-specific, so an order on Chinese steel does not automatically apply to Indonesian steel of the same type.
Manufacturer: Within a given order, different producers may have different individual rates, and some may have no rate at all if they were not investigated. This specificity is what makes AD/CVD research more granular than a standard tariff lookup, and it is also why the same product from two different factories in the same country can carry very different duty burdens.
Using USITC.gov and Commerce ACCESS
USITC Orders Database Search Workflow
The public index of all active AD/CVD orders can be found in multiple databases, including the USITC Orders List, the ITA ACCESS System, the ITA AD/CVD Case Search, the CBP ACE Public Portal and the Federal Register. To run an effective search: enter your 10-digit HTS subheading and your country of origin. The results will return case numbers, the names of the orders, and the status (active, revoked, suspended). Clicking into a case gives you access to the original petition, the scope language, and any subsequent determinations. The scope language, the written description of what products are covered, is the document you need to read carefully if your product falls in a category where orders exist.
Commerce ACCESS for Scope Rulings and Administrative Reviews
The Department of Commerce's AD/CVD Centralized Electronic Service System, known as ACCESS, is the repository for all official documents filed in AD/CVD proceedings. It is free to use after registration. In ACCESS, you can retrieve the full text of any order, search for prior scope rulings by case number, and monitor ongoing administrative reviews. Scope rulings, formal determinations about whether a specific product falls inside or outside an order, are particularly useful as precedent. A ruling issued for a product similar to yours can signal how Commerce is likely to treat your own goods.
When you identify a case number from the USITC database, use that number to search ACCESS and pull the most recent review results, the current cash deposit rate schedule, and any pending scope inquiries.
CBSA SIMA Measures in Force (Canada Parallel)
For importers who also move goods into Canada, the equivalent resource is the Canada Border Services Agency's (CBSA) Measures in Force list, published at the Canada Border Services Agency. This list covers all goods currently subject to anti-dumping or countervailing measures under Canada's Special Import Measures Act (SIMA), the Canadian statute that mirrors U.S. AD/CVD law in purpose. Unlike the U.S. system, Canadian AD/CVD rates are often calculated as a per-unit amount rather than a percentage, and the administering agencies differ: the CBSA calculates the duty, while the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) makes the injury determination.
If you import the same product into both countries, the SIMA checks should be separate from each other, as in two independent classifications. The two countries' orders cover overlapping but not identical product-country combinations.
Decoding AD/CVD Rates on a Specific Product
Manufacturer-Specific vs. Country-Wide Rates
When Commerce investigates an AD/CVD case, it selects certain producers to be "mandatory respondents": companies that are required to submit cost and pricing data for Commerce to calculate an individual rate.
If your supplier participated in the original investigation and has its own rate, that rate applies to your entries from that supplier. If your supplier was not individually investigated, a different rate applies, as described below.
The individual rates can vary significantly among producers in the same country. Knowing which factory your goods come from, and checking whether that factory has a specific rate, is therefore an essential part of the exposure calculation.
The "All-Others Rate" and When It Applies
If your supplier is a producer or exporter that did not participate in the original investigation and was not individually investigated in a subsequent administrative review, the all-others rate generally applies. The all-others rate is typically calculated as a weighted average of the individually determined rates from the original investigation, excluding any rates based on adverse inferences (see below). It functions as the default rate for new entrants to a covered market.
One important caveat: if a producer participated in an investigation but failed to cooperate by not filing required questionnaire responses or withholding information, Commerce may apply a rate "based on facts available with adverse inferences," sometimes called an AFA rate. AFA rates are often the highest in an order and are intended to discourage non-cooperation. In the Solar III Cambodia CVD case, four of the five mandatory respondents received the AFA rate of 3,403.96%.
Cash Deposit vs. Final Assessed Rate Timing
The duty you pay when goods enter the country is a cash deposit: a provisional, estimated payment based on the most recently calculated rate for your specific manufacturer or exporter in prior administrative periods. It is not your final liability. At some later point, Commerce conducts an annual administrative review (AR) covering all shipments made during a specific period. When that review concludes, Commerce instructs CBP to liquidate (finalize) those entries at the final assessed rate determined in the review. If the final rate is higher than what you deposited, you owe the difference, potentially with interest. If the final rate is lower, you are entitled to a refund, also potentially with interest.
This gap between the cash deposit rate and the final assessed rate is one of the most significant cash-flow variables in AD/CVD compliance. Entries can remain unliquidated for three or more years while reviews proceed. Planning around this timeline requires knowing when the review for your period of import is expected to conclude.
Scope Analysis When Your Product Is Borderline
Reading the Scope Description in the Original Order
Every AD/CVD order contains a narrative scope description that defines, in words, exactly what merchandise is covered. HTS codes appear in the order, but they are not dispositive. The written description controls. Reading the scope description carefully is therefore step one whenever you have reason to believe your product might be in scope. Scope descriptions can be detailed or surprisingly brief. They typically specify the physical characteristics, technical parameters, end uses, and exclusions that define covered merchandise. A product that matches the description physically is covered even if it enters under an HTS code that is not listed; conversely, a product that falls outside the description is not covered even if it enters under a listed HTS code. The scope description in the hand trucks case (A-570-891) illustrates this point: Commerce found a "log carrier" that physically matched the two-wheel-with-toe-plate description to be within scope, regardless of how the importer had classified it.
Scope Rulings as Precedent
Commerce issues scope rulings (formal written determinations) when importers, exporters, or other interested parties request clarity on whether a specific product is covered. These rulings are binding on the parties who requested them and published in ACCESS. They also function as practical precedent for other importers with similar products, though they are technically case-specific. Before you spend resources preparing a scope ruling request of your own, searching ACCESS for prior rulings in the same case is worth the effort. A ruling issued for a product with characteristics close to yours gives a strong signal about how Commerce is likely to view your goods, and may be persuasive if you later need to contest a scope determination.
Requesting a Scope Ruling (When, How, Cost)
When your product falls in a gray area, filing a formal scope ruling request with Commerce is the most reliable way to get a binding answer. The application is submitted through ACCESS using Commerce's Scope Ruling Application Guide (available at ACCESS). Your application must include a detailed product description covering physical characteristics, end uses, and how the product is manufactured, along with supporting documentation.
After receiving a complete application, Commerce has 30 days to either issue a final ruling or initiate a formal scope inquiry. If Commerce initiates a full inquiry, the timeline extends, with third parties (including petitioners) allowed to file comments. As the trade law firm Great Lakes Customs Law has noted publicly, a scope ruling can be resolved in as little as 30 days or can drag on for months depending on the complexity of the issues and the level of third-party participation. The cost of the request itself, government filing fees, is minimal, though preparing a thorough application typically requires professional assistance.
One practical note: scope ruling applications must be based on a product that is "commercially manufactured and sold," meaning samples and prototypes are generally not eligible.
Annual Administrative Reviews
How Rates Change in Admin Reviews
Each year, interested parties can request an administrative review (AR) of an AD or CVD order covering a specific period of entry (typically one year). Commerce then recalculates individual rates for any producers or exporters that are reviewed, based on updated cost and pricing data. The results can move rates up, down, or in some cases to zero. A producer that has substantially changed its pricing behavior since the original investigation may receive a significantly different rate in a review than it received initially. Rates can also increase if Commerce finds new evidence of dumping or subsidization.
The Federal Register publishes an opportunity to request administrative reviews every month for orders with that anniversary date. If no request is filed for a given period, Commerce instructs CBP to liquidate entries at the current cash deposit rate, making that rate the final assessed rate for those entries.
Participation Decisions (Review vs. Opt-Out)
If you import from a producer that has an individual AD or CVD rate, you have a decision to make each anniversary period: request a review, or do not.
Requesting a review means Commerce will recalculate the rate for that period. If you believe the rate will come down based on updated data, requesting a review can reduce your final liability.
If you believe the rate will increase, or if the cost of participation outweighs the potential benefit, you may choose not to request a review, in which case your entries from that period will typically liquidate at the existing cash deposit rate.
This decision should be made with counsel, because the consequences run in both directions. A review that results in a higher rate increases your liability retroactively for every entry in the review period.
Impact on Cash Flow vs. Final Liability
The practical cash-flow challenge is that you pay the cash deposit rate at entry but may not know your final liability for years. During that interval, the difference, whether it becomes a refund or additional payment, sits unresolved. For importers with high-volume shipments, the aggregate gap between deposited and assessed duties can be material. Building this uncertainty into contract pricing, supplier negotiations, and treasury planning is an operational necessity for any business with significant AD/CVD exposure.
Circumvention and Anti-Circumvention Inquiries
Third-Country Transshipment Risk
One of the more consequential developments in recent AD/CVD enforcement is the expansion of anti-circumvention inquiries to cover third-country transshipment, the practice of routing goods through a country not covered by an existing order to avoid the order's duties. The Solar III case is the most prominent current example. Commerce found that solar cells from China were being shipped to Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam for minor processing before export to the United States, circumventing the existing China orders. The result was that AD/CVD duties applied to goods assembled in those countries, not just to direct Chinese imports.
If your supply chain involves goods that originate primarily in a country covered by an order, with assembly or finishing steps in a third country, those goods may be within scope of an anti-circumvention finding even if the country of assembly is not itself the subject of an order.
Minor Processing and Substantial Transformation Overlap
Commerce's regulations define "minor processing" (under section 781 of the Tariff Act of 1930) as operations that do not substantially transform the goods; activities like cutting to length, painting, or minor assembly that don't change the fundamental character of the merchandise.
If the processing in the third country rises to the level of "substantial transformation," the goods may acquire new country-of-origin status and fall outside the original order's scope. But substantial transformation is a fact-intensive analysis, and Commerce has been narrowing its interpretation in recent years.
The overlap between substantial transformation analysis (relevant to country-of-origin determination) and minor processing analysis (relevant to circumvention) means that these questions require careful legal analysis.
Recent Circumvention Findings (Steel, Solar, EVs)
Beyond solar, Commerce has active or recently concluded anti-circumvention inquiries across steel products, aluminum extrusions, and other categories. Commerce maintains 817 AD and CVD orders as of early 2026. The direction of travel is toward broader circumvention scrutiny, particularly for products with complex multi-country supply chains.
For electric vehicles and EV components, the intersection of AD/CVD orders, Section 301 tariffs, and Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) requirements is producing a compliance environment that requires monitoring across multiple regulatory frameworks simultaneously.
When Classification Accuracy Determines Scope
HTS Classification as the Gate to Scope Analysis
The 10-digit HTS code is the practical starting point for every AD/CVD lookup. If your classification is wrong, you may search for orders against the wrong code and miss your actual exposure entirely. A product classified under a generic heading that doesn't carry any AD/CVD flags is not necessarily outside the scope of a relevant order, but you won't find the order if you're searching the wrong HTS subheading.
Classification accuracy matters at both the upstream (pre-order) and downstream (post-entry) stages. Before you place an order, getting the classification right tells you which AD/CVD cases to research. After entry, a CBP classification audit that changes your declared HTS code can pull your entries into the scope of an order you didn't know applied, creating retroactive liability.
Common Misclassifications That Drag Products Into AD/CVD Scope
A few recurring patterns appear in AD/CVD enforcement. Products described vaguely on commercial invoices (as "metal parts," "components," or "hardware") are sometimes classified by importers under generic codes that happen to carry lower base duty rates but that also miss relevant AD/CVD coverage. When CBP reviews the shipment and applies a more specific classification, the corrected code may fall directly within an active order.
Compound or multi-function products present another challenge. Commerce scope rulings have found products to be within scope of orders even when their primary function is not the covered use, if one function matches the scope description. The flashlight ruling in the solar orders (finding a product with a charging function to be within scope of solar cell orders) illustrates how broad scope can extend from a written description.
Getting the product description right before classification, which Gaia Dynamics' Description IQ is built to address, reduces the likelihood that ambiguous descriptions lead to misclassification in the first place.
Pre-Import vs. Post-Entry Classification Disputes
The ideal time to resolve a classification question is before the goods ship. At that stage, you can request a binding ruling from CBP (through the ruling database), consult available scope rulings in ACCESS, or file a pre-importation scope ruling request with Commerce. These tools provide clarity before your cash deposit obligation is established and before entries accumulate.
After entry, the options are more constrained. If CBP issues a CF-28 (request for information) or CF-29 (notice of action) raising classification or AD/CVD coverage questions, you have a defined window to respond and, if necessary, protest. Under 19 USC § 1514, a protest must generally be filed within 180 days of liquidation. Acting quickly and with counsel in that window is essential.
FAQs
How do I know if my product has an AD/CVD order?
Gather Specific Product Details: you need to know the exact country of origin, manufacturing materials, physical properties, and the intended use of your product.
Check the AD/CVD Databases: Search International Trade Administration AD/CVD Search to look up cases by country, product description, case number or HTS code, and check the U.S. Customs and Border Protection AD/CVD Reference System for active orders and scope definitions.
Review the Legal Scope: Read the written “scope” found in Commerce instructions or active Federal Register notices; it defines the countries of origin of the merchandise covered, specific physical characteristics and exclusions.
Apply for a Scope Ruling: If you can’t settle whether your product falls within the written scope, you can request a formal, legally-binding Scope Ruling from the Department of Commerce.
Do AD/CVD duties stack on Section 301 and 232?
Yes. AD/CVD duties are assessed separately from, and in addition to, Section 301 tariffs (which target Chinese goods under U.S. trade law authority) and Section 232 tariffs (which target steel and aluminum on national security grounds). Your total landed duty burden is the sum of all applicable layers: base MFN (most-favored-nation) duty, Section 301 if applicable, Section 232 if applicable, AD rate, and CVD rate. For Chinese-origin steel, for example, all of these can apply simultaneously.
Can I get a refund of AD/CVD cash deposits?
Yes, under certain conditions. If the final assessed rate determined in an administrative review is lower than the cash deposit rate you paid at entry, CBP will refund the difference, with interest. The refund is not automatic; it follows Commerce's instruction to CBP after the review concludes. Refunds can take years to materialize, and the interest rate applied is set by statute. Conversely, if the final assessed rate is higher than your deposit, you owe the additional amount.
What if my product is borderline in scope?
The safest path is a formal scope ruling request filed with Commerce through ACCESS. Informal discussions with CBP import specialists or Commerce analysts can be informative but do not produce binding determinations. While a scope ruling is pending, entries of the potentially covered merchandise will typically be suspended (held without final liquidation), which preserves your ability to benefit from a favorable ruling. Do not assume that "borderline" means "not covered", Commerce's scope analysis is text-driven, and products that importers expect to fall outside an order have repeatedly been found to fall within it.
How long does AD/CVD scope analysis take?
A formal scope ruling request has a 30-day initiation window, 120-day final ruling, and a 180-day extension. If a full inquiry is initiated, the timeline extends, often to several months. The length depends on the complexity of the issues, the thoroughness of the original application, and whether the petitioner or other interested parties file substantial comments. As a practical matter, building scope analysis time into your sourcing timeline, before goods are ordered and shipped, avoids the pressure of trying to resolve the question while containers are en route.
