China to take anti-dumping measures against EU brandy imports

Beijing said in August that it would not impose provisional tariffs on European brandy makers even though it had found evidence of dumping, but did not rule out subsequent measures.

From Friday, operators will have to pay a “corresponding guarantee” to Chinese customs when importing EU brandy into the country, Beijing’s commerce ministry said.

It said the amount would be based on calculations involving prices approved by customs, as well as import taxes.

The investigation had “preliminarily determined that imports of certain brandy originating from the EU were being dumped, threatening substantial damage to the domestic brandy industry”, according to the ministry.

It added that the probe also established “a causal relationship between the dumping and the threat of substantial damage”.

The ministry also released a list detailing the rates each company would expect to pay, ranging from 30.6 per cent for cognac house Martell to 39 per cent for Jas Hennessy and 38.1 per cent for Remy Martin.

China imported more brandy than any other spirit in 2022, with most of it coming from France, according to a report by research group Daxue Consulting.

In May, French President Emmanuel Macron thanked his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for not imposing customs duties on French cognac, presenting him with bottles of the expensive drink.

But last week, the EU gave a definitive green light to impose extra tariffs of up to 35.3 per cent on EVs imported from China, saying that Beijing has unfairly subsidised its domestic industry to the detriment of European automakers.

After that vote, makers of French cognac – which represents the vast majority of European brandies imported into China – said they were being “sacrificed”.

“The French authorities have abandoned us,” the National Interprofessional Cognac Bureau said in a statement.

Brussels is also investigating Chinese subsidies for solar panels and wind turbines.

Beijing has also launched a probe into EU subsidies of some dairy and pork products imported into China.