The European Union has made a final anti-dumping ruling on PET spunbond nonwoven fabrics from China, putting pressure on industrial textile exports.

On October 30, the European Commission announced a final anti-dumping duty on PET spunbond nonwoven fabrics (polyester filament needle-punched nonwoven fabrics) originating from China, imposing a 39.8%–48.1% duty for a period of five years. Compared with the previous provisional rates of 45.6%–50%, the final duty rates have been slightly reduced. However, the long-term implementation of the tariff barrier has a significant impact on the relevant domestic export enterprises and the industrial textiles sector, making this a trade remedy case in the nonwoven fabric field that the EU has implemented in recent years that deserves focused attention.

This type of product is a key export category in China’s industrial textiles sector, with concentrated domestic production capacity and large export volume. The EU is also one of the core overseas markets for domestic waterproofing base nonwoven fabric enterprises. Although the final duty rate has slightly decreased, the tariffs ranging from nearly 40% to nearly 50% will directly increase export costs and compress the product’s price advantage.

In the long term, this anti-dumping ruling will compel the entire industry to transform. In the past, many enterprises remained in the conventional waterproof substrate sector with homogeneous products and relied on low-price competition to capture overseas orders. The emergence of trade barriers will accelerate the adjustment of the industry’s product structure, guiding resources toward high value-added specialty nonwovens and functional composite nonwoven materials, breaking away from the old path of low-price competition.