AD/CVD Orders: The Tariff Layer Most Importers Don't Know They're Paying

The tariff conversation in 2026 is almost entirely about Section 301 China tariffs, IEEPA, and Section 122. These are the policies that generated headlines, litigation, and the Supreme Court ruling in February. But there is a separate layer of US trade policy that predates all of them and, for importers in affected categories, often costs more: antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders.

AD/CVD orders are administered by the Department of Commerce and enforced by CBP. Unlike Section 301 or Section 122, they are not blanket tariffs. They apply to specific products from specific countries, often at rates that make the rest of the tariff stack look modest. A 25% Section 301 rate looks different when there is an AD order sitting on top of it at 150%.

What AD/CVD Orders Are and Why They Exist

Antidumping orders are imposed when the Department of Commerce determines that a foreign company is selling goods in the US at below-market prices, and the US International Trade Commission (USITC) finds that those prices are causing material injury to a US industry. The order sets an antidumping duty rate, expressed as a percentage of the declared value, to close the price gap.

Countervailing duty orders address a different problem: subsidies. When a foreign government subsidizes an industry (through grants, preferential loans, tax breaks, or other mechanisms), and that subsidy gives exporters an unfair price advantage in the US market, Commerce can impose a CVD to offset the subsidy value.

Both types of orders go through a formal investigation process, with preliminary and final determinations, and they remain in force until a sunset review determines they are no longer needed. That process typically takes five years per review cycle, and many orders stay in effect for 15-20 years or longer.

How AD/CVD Duty Rates Are Calculated

This is where AD/CVD gets complicated for importers. The rate assessed at the border is a deposit rate, based on the most recent Commerce determination. For the final duty amount, the entry is subject to administrative review after the fact.

If a specific exporter in the AD/CVD order has been reviewed and given their own rate, that rate applies to goods from that exporter. If the exporter has never been reviewed, the "all others" rate or the country-wide rate applies. That rate can be significantly higher than the deposit rate at entry.

The gap between the deposit rate and the final assessed rate is why importers in AD/CVD categories sometimes receive large unexpected duty bills long after an entry has cleared. CBP liquidates entries with final AD/CVD rates months or years after the goods crossed the border.

The Scale of Active Orders

There are currently over 100 active antidumping and countervailing duty orders affecting US imports. The majority target China-origin goods, but orders cover imports from dozens of countries including India, Vietnam, South Korea, Turkey, and EU members.

Product categories with active orders include steel and aluminum products, solar panels, chemicals, paper and forest products, furniture, tires, and a range of industrial and agricultural goods. The existence of an AD/CVD order in your product category is not a hypothetical risk. It is a binary: either your product and supplier are covered or they are not.

The orders are public. Commerce maintains the Federal Register notices for all active orders. CBP enforces them at the border. The information is available. What is not always clear, especially for importers sourcing from countries with active orders, is whether their specific product and supplier fall within the scope of a given order.

Scope Rulings: The Mechanism Most Importers Don't Use

If it is unclear whether a specific product falls within the scope of an AD/CVD order, importers can request a scope ruling from the Department of Commerce. A scope ruling is a formal determination of whether a particular product is within or outside the order's coverage.

Scope rulings are publicly searchable and binding. If Commerce has already ruled on a product identical or substantially similar to yours, that ruling applies. If they have not, filing a scope ruling request establishes certainty before goods arrive at the border, rather than after CBP makes an enforcement decision.

The practical value of a scope ruling is cost certainty. An importer who files a scope ruling and receives a determination that their product is outside the order can import without AD/CVD risk. An importer who guesses and gets it wrong may face back duties at liquidation plus penalties.

How to Check Whether Your Product Is Covered

The first step is checking whether any active AD/CVD orders cover your HS code and country of origin. Triangle's compliance check includes AD/CVD order screening against the active order database. For each HS code and origin country combination, it flags whether active investigations or orders exist and provides the Commerce case number for reference.

That check is a starting point, not a definitive answer. Order scope is determined by the language of the Federal Register notice, not just the HS code. Products with the same HS code can be in or out of scope depending on their physical characteristics, end use, or manufacturing process. If the AD/CVD flag appears in your tariff lookup, the next step is reading the order scope and consulting with a customs broker or trade attorney before importing.