On July 29, 2025, a trade policy development from the European Union (EU) attracted significant attention across China’s textile industry chain. The European Commission formally launched an anti-dumping investigation into nylon yarn imported from China, following an application by the Special Alliance of European Nylon Yarn Producers. This investigation not only targets four categories of products under tariff codes 54023100, 54024500, 54025100, and 54026100 but also involves a trade volume of approximately $70.51 million. The affected Chinese enterprises are mostly concentrated in textile industry clusters in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and other provinces, with implications for an entire industrial chain—from raw material production to end exports—and the stability of tens of thousands of jobs.
Behind the Investigation: Intertwined Industrial Competition and Trade Protection
The trigger for the EU’s anti-dumping investigation lies in the collective appeal of local European nylon yarn producers. In recent years, China’s nylon yarn industry has gained a significant position in the global market, driven by its mature industrial chain support, large-scale production capacity, and technological upgrading advantages, with exports to the EU growing steadily. European producers argue that Chinese enterprises may be selling products at “below normal value,” causing “material injury” or “threat of injury” to the EU’s domestic industry. This led the industry alliance to file a complaint with the European Commission.
In terms of product characteristics, the four types of nylon yarn under investigation are widely used in clothing, home textiles, industrial filter materials, and other fields, serving as a crucial link in the industrial chain. China’s industrial advantages in this sector did not emerge overnight: regions like Zhejiang and Jiangsu have developed a complete production system, from nylon chips (raw materials) to spinning and dyeing. Leading enterprises have improved efficiency by introducing intelligent production lines, while small and medium-sized enterprises have reduced logistics and collaboration costs through cluster effects, giving their products strong cost-performance competitiveness. However, this export growth, supported by a robust industrial ecosystem, has been interpreted by some European enterprises as “unfair competition,” ultimately leading to the investigation.
Direct Impact on Chinese Enterprises: Rising Costs and Growing Market Uncertainty
The launch of the anti-dumping investigation means a 12–18 month “trade war of attrition” for China’s involved enterprises, with impacts quickly spreading from policy to their production and operational decisions.
First, there is short-term order volatility. EU customers may adopt a wait-and-see attitude during the investigation, with some long-term orders at risk of delay or reduction. For enterprises reliant on the EU market (especially those where the EU accounts for over 30% of annual exports), declining orders directly affect capacity utilization. A person in charge of a yarn enterprise in Zhejiang revealed that after the investigation was announced, two German customers had suspended negotiations on new orders, citing the need to “assess the risk of final tariffs.”
Second, there are hidden increases in trade costs. To respond to the investigation, enterprises must invest significant human and financial resources in preparing defense materials, including sorting out production costs, sales prices, and export data from the past three years. Some enterprises also need to hire local EU law firms, with initial legal fees potentially reaching hundreds of thousands of RMB. Furthermore, if the investigation ultimately finds dumping and imposes anti-dumping duties (which could range from a few tens of percent to over 100%), the price advantage of Chinese products in the EU market will be severely eroded, and they may even be forced to withdraw from the market.
A more far-reaching impact is the uncertainty in market layout. To avoid risks, enterprises may be forced to adjust their export strategies—for example, shifting some products originally destined for the EU to markets in Southeast Asia, South America, etc. However, developing new markets requires time and resource investment, and they cannot quickly compensate for the gap left by the EU market in the short term. A medium-sized yarn enterprise in Jiangsu has already begun researching Vietnamese processing channels, planning to reduce risks through “third-country transshipment.” This, however, will undoubtedly add intermediate costs and further squeeze profit margins.
Ripple Effects Across the Industrial Chain: A Domino Effect from Enterprises to Industrial Clusters
The clustered nature of China’s nylon yarn industry means that shocks to a single link can spread upstream and downstream. Upstream suppliers of nylon chips and downstream weaving factories (especially export-oriented fabric enterprises) may be affected by disrupted yarn exports.
For instance, fabric enterprises in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, mostly use local yarn to produce outdoor clothing fabrics, with 30% exported to the EU. If yarn enterprises reduce production due to the investigation, fabric factories may face unstable raw material supply or price increases. Conversely, if yarn enterprises cut prices for domestic sales to maintain cash flow, it could trigger price competition in the domestic market, squeezing local profit margins. This chain reaction within the industrial chain tests the risk resilience of industrial clusters.
In the long run, the investigation also serves as a wake-up call for China’s nylon yarn industry: in the context of rising global trade protectionism, a growth model relying solely on price advantages is no longer sustainable. Some leading enterprises have begun to accelerate transformation, such as developing high-value-added functional nylon yarn (e.g., antibacterial, flame-retardant, and biodegradable varieties), reducing reliance on “price wars” through differentiated competition. Meanwhile, industry associations are promoting the establishment of more standardized cost accounting systems for enterprises, accumulating data to cope with international trade frictions.
The EU’s anti-dumping investigation is essentially a reflection of the 博弈 of industrial interests in the process of global industrial chain restructuring. For Chinese enterprises, this is both a challenge and an opportunity to drive industrial upgrading. How to safeguard their rights within a compliant framework while reducing reliance on a single market through technological innovation and market diversification will be a common issue for the entire industry in the coming period.
Post time: Aug-13-2025