U.S. Trade Department Sets Final Duties on Battery Anode Imports from China

Estimated reading time: 3–5 minutes

The United States Department of Commerce announced its final decision in a trade case involving active anode material from the People’s Republic of China. This decision was published in the Federal Register on February 17, 2026.

The Commerce Department concluded that Chinese producers and exporters of active anode material received unfair subsidies from their government. This ruling is part of a countervailing duty (CVD) investigation. The investigation looked at product entries between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023.

The Department began the investigation officially on January 25, 2025. A preliminary ruling was issued on May 28, 2025. An amended preliminary ruling followed on July 2, 2025, correcting some errors in the original subsidy rate estimates.

The final ruling includes a list of Chinese companies and the countervailing duty rates assigned to each:

  • Panasonic Global Procurement China Co., Ltd., and Panasonic Corporation of China: 66.86%
  • BTR New Material Group Co., Ltd., and its affiliates: 66.82%
  • Shanghai Shaosheng Knitted Sweat: 66.82% (rate based on adverse facts available)
  • Huzhou Kaijin New Energy Technology Corp., Ltd.: 66.82% (rate based on adverse facts available)
  • All Other Chinese producers and exporters: 66.86%

The Department used verification procedures to examine records and documents provided during on-site reviews. The process followed required steps under U.S. trade law.

Commerce made changes to the subsidy rate calculations from the preliminary review. Details of these changes are in the final Issues and Decision Memorandum, which is available online via the ACCESS system.

The Commerce Department used facts available with adverse inferences for some companies, including Shanghai Shaosheng and Huzhou Kaijin. These companies did not respond properly to requests for information.

All other producers will receive the same rate as Panasonic. This is because Panasonic was the only cooperating respondent without a zero or de minimis rate and not based only on adverse facts.

The Department has instructed U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue collecting cash deposits. Suspension of liquidation applies to entries made on or before September 25, 2025. If the International Trade Commission (ITC) also finds material injury to the U.S. industry, CBP will assess duties on all impacted imports after that date.

The ITC must now decide if the subsidies caused harm to U.S. producers. If the ITC agrees, the Department of Commerce will issue a final countervailing duty order. If the ITC decides there is no injury, the investigation ends, and duties collected so far will be refunded.

The scope of the investigation includes graphite-based anode materials with certain purity and size characteristics. These materials are used in lithium-ion batteries. Certain finished products like electric vehicles, phones, or entire battery systems are excluded.

The final determination closes a major step in a trade enforcement process aimed at active anode material from China.

All documents related to this case are available to registered users through the ACCESS system at https://access.trade.gov.


Legal Disclaimer

This article includes content collected from the Federal Register (federalregister.gov). The content is not an official government publication. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For case-specific consultation, please contact us. Read our full Legal Disclaimer, which also includes information on translation accuracy.