On Tuesday 8 October, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced that it would be imposing anti-dumping tariffs on European spirits from 11 October. At the end of August, Beijing provisionally concluded that these products were being dumped on the Chinese market, but did not impose any measures (see EUROPE 13471/6). China has since changed its tune: a few days ago, the EU confirmed its intention to impose countervailing duties on China-made EVs (see EUROPE 13497/1).
The provisional tariffs apply specifically to “spirits obtained by distilling grape wine in containers holding less than 200 litres” and consist of bank guarantees ranging from 30.6% to 39% of the net price at the border. China claims that this corresponds to the dumping margins it found during its investigation. The European Commission reacted by describing the Chinese measures as inappropriate and said it would challenge them at the World Trade Organization (WTO). “In parallel, the Commission will now carefully identify and assess all possibilities to offer appropriate support to EU producers facing the negative impact of this unwarranted decision by the government of China”, it said.
“Today’s decision means that, at an extremely short notice, EU producers will be hit by a significant additional financial burden when exporting EU wine-based and marc-based products to China”, said Ulrich Adam, spiritsEUROPE’s managing director.
Its organisation, like the representatives of other economic sectors that could be affected by the various Chinese investigations, is calling on the European Commission to “redouble efforts to find a negotiated solution with its Chinese counterparts urgently”.
See details of tariffs per company: https://aeur.eu/f/drq (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)