In terms of international trade, the European Union has officially issued the final anti-dumping ruling on adipic acid imported from China, a major event reshaping global trade patterns. Targeting adipic acid products under the corresponding customs code, the EU imposes anti-dumping duties ranging from 29.1% to 42.3% on Chinese exports, which took full effect on May 6, 2026. The investigation lasted for a long period: the case was formally filed in March 2025, and the preliminary ruling was released in November the same year with a provisional duty of 46.8% implemented. The final verdict was delivered after more than one year of verification and research. In terms of trade volume, the EU’s annual imports of adipic acid stand at approximately 160 million euros, over 80% of which are sourced from China, making China the EU’s primary supplier. The new tariffs have greatly reduced the market share of Chinese products in the EU and pushed up the procurement cost of adipic acid raw materials across the European market.

Apart from trade barriers in the EU, a review of anti-dumping measures has also been launched in South America. At the end of March 2026, Brazilian authorities initiated the second anti-dumping sunset review on adipic acid imported from China, European and American countries, covering products under designated tariff codes. The dumping investigation for this review covers the period from July 2024 to June 2025, while the industrial injury investigation reviews industry data from July 2020 to June 2025. If the original anti-dumping decision is upheld in the final review, export restrictions on Chinese adipic acid in Brazil will remain in place, further increasing the export pressure on domestic producers.

Driven by multiple trade policies, the import and export landscape of the global adipic acid market has undergone dramatic changes. The EU is China’s second-largest export market for adipic acid, accounting for around 22% of China’s total exports previously. In the first three months of 2026, China’s exports to the EU dropped sharply, with the proportion falling to 10.04%. Benefiting from the new tariffs, the market price of adipic acid in Europe has kept rising. China boasts more than 60% of the world’s total adipic acid production capacity and serves as a major production hub globally. The surge of overseas trade barriers has forced the domestic industry to phase out low-end capacity and accelerate the high-end transformation. Meanwhile, downstream industries in the EU including nylon 66, polyurethane, automobile manufacturing and textiles have seen rising raw material costs. They are shifting procurement channels to suppliers in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other regions, leading to a restructuring of global adipic acid trade flows.

Against the backdrop of green and low-carbon development, technological upgrading in the global adipic acid industry is gathering pace. To cope with trade barriers and international carbon emission reduction rules, major industrial regions in Europe and America are stepping up the development of bio-based adipic acid, promoting production routes using renewable raw materials to reduce reliance on traditional petroleum feedstocks and enhance the green added value of products. Furthermore, with the full implementation of policies such as the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, low-carbon production and energy conservation have become the core development trends of the global adipic acid industry. Green production capacity featuring low energy consumption and emissions is gaining market premiums, while the competitiveness of traditional high-energy-consuming capacity is declining, steering the entire industry toward green, low-carbon and sustainable development.