spiritsEUROPE, the representative body for the spirit industry on a European level, has urged the European Commission to find a negotiated solution with its Chinese counterparts to prevent the imposition of anti-dumping duties on EU brandy.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) has imposed security deposits based on provisional anti-dumping duties for importers of EU wine- and marc-based products, effective from 11 October 2024.
The decision will have an ‘extremely negative impact’ on the exporters of EU wine- and marc-based spirits to China – a major export destination, spiritsEUROPE noted.
‘Additional Financial Burden’
According to Ulrich Adam, director general of spiritsEUROPE, the decision means that “EU producers will be hit by a significant additional financial burden when exporting EU wine-based and marc-based products to China” at extremely short notice.
The association also noted that the spirit industry had fully cooperated with Chinese authorities, demonstrating complete transparency, since January 2024.
The industry has provided evidence demonstrating the absence of dumping, injury, or threat of injury.
‘Our sector is a collateral victim of a broader trade conflict, as the decision by the Chinese authorities is taken in reaction to the EU’s vote on e-vehicle duties last Friday (4 October),’ it added.
High Chinese tariffs on EU brandy would leave French companies with vast amounts of cognac that could be hard to sell elsewhere, according to Reuters’ calculations, analysts and investors, who fear that firms could be forced to discount.
China opened an anti-dumping investigation into brandy imported from the European Union in January, sparking fears that cognac could suffer a similar blow to that taken by Australian wine when China introduced tariffs of up to 218.4%.
