The war of the duties between China and the European Union continues, with a new chapter that opens today. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has decided to impose duties anti -dumping between 27.7% and 34.9% on the import of brandy from the EU, starting from 5 July, for a period of five years.
The motivation is that, according to Beijing, the brand imported from the EU represents a case of dumping, that is, when a company sells a product abroad to a lower price compared to the price practiced in its internal market.
From duties on cars to brandy
On January 5, 2024, the Ministry of Commerce had started an anti -dumping investigation on the brandy imported in containers of capacity of less than 200 liters from the EU. This happened a few months after the start of investigations by Brussels on the subsidies given by the Chinese government to electric cars. A decision that led to the adoption of additional duties to the imports of E-Car Made in China up to 35%.
Starting from 11 October 2024, China had imposed temporary anti -dumping duties on brand imports from the EU, with variable rates depending on the manufacturer, for example:
- Jas Hennessy & Co.: 39%;
- Rémy Martin: 38.1%;
- Martell: 30.6%.
These measures have had a significant impact on exports Europeanin particular French, since France represents about 99% of brandy exports to China. In 2022, Cognac’s exports reached a value of 773 million euros.
The brands that exempt from duties
But not all brands will be affected by the duties. In fact, some companies that had made commitments on the minimum price, including Martell & Co. owned by PernoD Ricard and Remy Martin of Remy CoinTreau, They will be exempt from the highest rates, except for violation of the commitments made.
The major Brandy producers, who saw sales also slow down in the United States, could breathe a sigh of relief. At the moment, it is not clear at what minimum prices each of the companies have been committed to which specific qualities of cognac.
In any case, in Paris, the Ricard Ricard Cala title of 1% to 89.20 euros and Remy CoinTreau of 0.79% to 47.42 euros. More contained losses in London for Diageo (-0.14% to 1,909 pence) and Milan for Campari (-0.36% to 6.038 euros).
The reaction of Europe
The European Union has reacted to this increase, defining it the unjust decision, inconsistent with applicable and unfounded international rules. The spokesman of the European Commerce Commission, Olof Gillanswering a question on the duties imposed by Beijing on the European brandy also specified how
Since the beginning of this problem, the Commission has intervened several times to defend and support the EU industry by expressing our growing concerns, raising our objections regarding the clear shortcomings of conducting the survey. And I add that none of the concerns that we have identified and raised in a formal consultation to the WTO has been addressed.
For the community spokesperson, Chinese measures are part of a strategy of “abuse of commercial defense tools that implies the start of investigations on the basis of questionable accusations and insufficient evidence in a short period of time”. The EU will now evaluate the next steps to protect itself from Chinese duties.
