China Steel Anti-Dumping Duties Latest Amendments
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Your importer client sees the safeguard duty on flat-rolled steel falling from 52.34% to 37.34% next June and starts planning around the saving. For Chinese-origin steel there is no saving. SARS gazetted the replacement on 18 September.
What was published
Five tariff amendment notices were issued in Government Gazette 55424, all amending Part 1 of Schedule No. 2 under item 215.02. They impose anti-dumping duties on flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, and flat-rolled products of other alloy steel, classifiable under Chapter 72, originating in or imported from the People's Republic of China. All flow from ITAC Report No. 778.
The rates escalate on a fixed timetable:
R.7937 – 5.5%, up to and including 11 June 2027
R.7938 – 20.5%, from 12 June 2027 up to and including 11 June 2028
R.7939 – 35.5%, from 12 June 2028 up to and including 11 June 2029
R.7940 – 57.84%, with effect from 12 June 2029
R.7941 sets a rate of 8.21% from 12 June 2029 for goods manufactured by Shandong Guanxian Foryune Composite Materials Co. Ltd. Producer-specific rates usually apply instead of the general rate rather than on top of it, so confirm the item before applying 57.84% to that supplier.
The pattern nobody is pointing out
Compare those dates to the general safeguard duty on the same goods, imposed in June 2026 under ITAC Report No. 768: 52.34% to 11 June 2027, then 37.34%, then 22.34%. That safeguard is not origin-specific, but it does catch Chinese imports.
Line them up and the arithmetic is deliberate.
18 September 2026 to 11 June 2027: 52.34% safeguard plus 5.5% anti-dumping = 57.84%
12 June 2027 to 11 June 2028: 37.34% plus 20.5% = 57.84%
12 June 2028 to 11 June 2029: 22.34% plus 35.5% = 57.84%
From 12 June 2029: safeguard gone, anti-dumping alone = 57.84%
The safeguard tapers. The anti-dumping ramps. For Chinese-origin flat-rolled steel the total has held at 57.84% since 18 September 2026, stays there for the next three years, and then continues on the anti-dumping leg alone.
SARS does not state this anywhere. The two duties sit in different parts of Schedule No. 2, the safeguard under item 260.03 and the anti-dumping under item 215.02, and they apply independently. Add them and the numbers land on the same figure three times in a row. That is not coincidence.
Two qualifications. The combined burden only reached 57.84% on 18 September 2026, since the safeguard ran alone from 12 June. And certain rebate items are excluded from the safeguard, so check whether your client's goods actually carry both.
The reach differs, though. The safeguard applies generally, subject to excluded origins and rebate items. The anti-dumping duty is China-specific. Origin now decides more than it used to, which is the same lesson as China Zero Duty: Clearance Date Decides.
The diesel refund alignment
Two more notices, both effective 18 September 2026.
R.7920 (GG 55406) substitutes Notes 6(a)(iii)(aa), 6(a)(vii) and 6(b)(iii)(aa) in Part 3 of Schedule No. 6, as published in Government Gazette 46056 of 18 March 2022.
R.7921 (GG 55406) amends the rules under sections 75 and 120, published as DAR280.
Both do the same job. They align the schedule and the rules with the new dedicated Diesel Refund Registration System that went live the same day. This is the legal plumbing behind the change we set out in Diesel Refund Registration Goes Live 18 September 2026. If a client is registering on the new system, the note references in their refund claims have changed.
What to do next
Check origin on every steel import file. Chinese origin can carry safeguard plus anti-dumping. Other origins may carry the safeguard only, and some goods are excluded from the safeguard by rebate item.
Check the tariff subheading against item 215.02 before assuming the anti-dumping duty applies. Chapter 72 is wide.
Check which ITAC report your goods fall under. Anti-dumping duties on certain hot-rolled flat-rolled products from China, Japan and Taiwan were already imposed in March 2026 under ITAC Report 767, in the same item 215.02. Match the tariff subheading to the item, not the product description.
Diarise 12 June 2027. That is when the split between the two duties changes, even though the total does not.
Correct any forecast built on the tapering safeguard. Do it in writing, this week.
Re-check diesel refund claim references for clients moving onto the new registration system.
Importers do not read the Gazette. They read your invoice and expect you to have read it for them.
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