The American Fiberglass Door Coalition, which represents the major American fiberglass door panel manufacturers, is monitoring an important antidumping ruling against Chinese imports later this month and taking aggressive steps with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to address duty evasion and other unlawful practices by foreign imports.
The domestic industry, which has been harmed by a surge of Chinese imports, filed antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) petitions in March 2025 with the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC). In August, Commerce imposed substantial preliminary CVD rates, ranging from 59.17% to 921.42%, on Chinese imports. Duties charged on Chinese imports are expected to increase further when Commerce makes its preliminary AD determination later this month, on December 23, 2025.
However, “despite the preliminary CVDs that have been in place since August, we have observed suspicious shipments and changes to trade flows indicating potential duty evasion and circumvention issues”, said Timothy C. Brightbill, co-lead counsel to the Coalition and co-chair of Wiley’s International Trade Practice. Brightbill confirmed that counsel for the Coalition is working closely with CBP to share evidence of duty evasion, which is leading to heightened scrutiny of imports in certain product lines.
The Coalition has also asked Commerce to clarify that Chinese fiberglass door skins are covered by the scope of the case, regardless of whether they are assembled into a door panel. “This scope clarification will help ensure that Chinese companies are not evading or circumventing these duties by shipping door skins to a third country for assembly into a door panel,” noted Robert E. DeFrancesco, International Trade partner and co-lead counsel to the Coalition.
Duty evasion, absorption (foreign manufacturers or other parties covering the importers duties), and circumvention are illegal and closely monitored by the CBP, in conjunction with Commerce. Imports of these fiberglass products under incorrect Harmonized Tariff System codes or inaccurate classifications thus bear significant legal and monetary consequences, and such actions are being closely scrutinized at this time.
Discover the latest trends and insights—explore the Business Insights Journal for up-to-date strategies and industry breakthroughs!
