The Trade Remedies Authority has proposed anti-dumping duties on imports of rutile titanium dioxide from China after concluding that dumped material presents an imminent threat to UK production. The recommendation would introduce a mixed tariff structure for five years, combining a percentage duty with a minimum charge per kilogram so that whichever calculation produces the higher amount applies.
Cooperating Chinese exporters, whether sampled during the investigation or not, would face a proposed rate of 48.29% with a minimum duty of £0.665 per kilogram. Other exporters would face 63.66% with a minimum of £0.876 per kilogram. Interested parties have until 26 October to challenge the initial findings before the TRA prepares its final recommendation to the Secretary of State.
The proposed measure reaches well beyond the pigment producers directly involved in the investigation because rutile titanium dioxide is used to provide whiteness, opacity and durability in coatings, plastics, paper and other manufactured products. Its high refractive index allows relatively small quantities to scatter visible light effectively, giving manufacturers strong hiding power and brightness, so changes in price or supply can move through several downstream production chains.
Trade data collected during the investigation show why the authority believes domestic production faces an imminent threat. Chinese rutile titanium dioxide was being sold into the UK at dumped prices, while import volumes accelerated sharply after the investigation began. In May 2026, imports from China were more than 299% higher than in May 2025, increasing competitive pressure on UK producers at the same time as other markets were tightening access to Chinese material.
Measures introduced by the European Union, Brazil, India and Saudi Arabia increase the potential for that trade to be redirected towards markets where equivalent duties are absent. China retains substantial titanium dioxide production capacity, and large chemical plants have strong incentives to maintain throughput because much of their cost base remains fixed regardless of the destination of each shipment. The TRA therefore assessed diversion risk alongside the direct comparison between Chinese export prices and the benchmark used to calculate dumping.
The proposed tariff structure is designed to offset that pricing effect while preserving continued trade. Its percentage component rises with the customs value of the goods, while the minimum charge establishes a floor beneath the duty collected. A cooperating exporter would therefore pay £0.665 per kilogram whenever that amount exceeds the 48.29% calculation, with the same mechanism applying to the higher rate and minimum charge proposed for other exporters.
Landed cost consequently depends on both calculations rather than the headline percentage alone. Lower value consignments may be governed by the per kilogram floor, while higher value material may attract the percentage rate, changing the economics of Chinese supply differently according to shipment value. Coatings, plastics, paper and other manufacturers using titanium dioxide will therefore see the impact through procurement costs as the measure moves towards a final decision.
Those downstream effects sit alongside the position of a UK titanium dioxide industry that the TRA says supports more than 570 jobs and supplies hundreds of manufacturing businesses. Domestic producers are seeking protection from prices the authority has found to be dumped, while users of the pigment still require reliable access to material meeting their technical specifications. The final measure therefore has to address injury to UK production within a market where imported material remains an important industrial input.
Product scope also matters because the investigation covers rutile titanium dioxide containing at least 80% titanium dioxide by weight on a dry matter basis. Anatase, brookite and other forms fall outside the proposed measure, while imports of the relevant rutile products have been subject to registration since March so customs authorities can identify affected goods while the case progresses.
The recommendation remains provisional during the consultation period, allowing interested parties to challenge the evidence, calculations or proposed treatment before the TRA reaches its final position. Once that process is complete, the Secretary of State will decide whether to adopt the measure under the UK’s trade remedies framework.
A five year duty would reshape purchasing conditions across a market where domestic production, Chinese imports and alternative overseas suppliers all contribute to supply. Its industrial effect will therefore depend on more than the tariff collected at the border: UK producers will be watching whether import pressure recedes, while downstream manufacturers will be testing whether other suppliers can provide the volumes, grades and prices required by their production processes.
