China opens anti-dumping probe into ENB from the EU and Japan

China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) published Notice No. 56 of 2026 on 6 November 2026, opening an anti-dumping investigation into imports of ethylidene norbornene (ENB) originating in the European Union and Japan. The petition was filed on 9 October 2026 by Henghe Materials & Science Technology Co., Ltd. (恒河材料科技股份有限公司) on behalf of the Chinese industry. First Finance (Yicai), The Beijing News and 21st Century Business Herald carried the notice minutes after it appeared on the Trade Remedy Investigation Bureau site.

The product under investigation is ethylidene norbornene, also called 5-ethylidene-2-norbornene or 5-ethylidene-bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene; English name Ethylidene Norbornene (ENB). Per the notice, it is a high-reactivity cyclo-olefin monomer, usually a colourless transparent liquid at ambient temperature and pressure, with a strong camphor-like odour and insoluble in water; formula C9H12. The main use listed by MOFCOM is as the third monomer in ethylene-propylene-diene (EPDM) rubber, to raise vulcanisation speed and cross-link density; it can also enter synthetic resins, plastics, elastomers and pharmaceutical intermediates.

The Chinese tariff code cited is 29021990; the notice itself excludes other products classified under that code. The dumping period runs from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026; the injury period from 1 January 2023 to 30 June 2026. The investigation starts on 6 November 2026 and should normally finish by 6 November 2027, with a possible six-month extension. Interested parties have 20 days from publication to register via MOFCOM’s trade-remedy e-platform (etrb.mofcom.gov.cn).

The same day, MOFCOM’s spokesman, answering questions on the two EU-related probes (ENB No. 56 and para-aramid filament No. 57), said the petitions rest on the applicants’ preliminary evidence: ENB imports “from the EU and other regions” allegedly rose 27.35% cumulatively from 2023 to 2025 and 56% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, with prices on a downward trend. Those percentages are the applicant’s claim as relayed by the spokesman — they are not, by themselves, a MOFCOM dumping finding.

CSP take: the notice does not impose an anti-dumping duty now; it creates risk of provisional or definitive duties and of a sourcing shift away from EU or Japanese monomer in China. For global buyers of EPDM and downstream rubber parts, the practical point is ENB origin in the compound: ask the Chinese supplier whether the third monomer is EU, Japan or domestic origin, and whether price/contract terms allow pass-through. Do not mix with case No. 57 (aramid). This reading is ours, not MOFCOM’s.