China has imposed temporary anti-dumping measures on imports of Brazilian chicken meat, at the same time as the United States pressures Beijing to reopen its market to American poultry products.
Chinese importers of Brazilian chicken will be required to pay deposits ranging from 18.8 percent to 38.4 percent of the value of their shipments from June 9, the commerce ministry said in a statement.
A preliminary ruling from the ministry found that Chinese producers had been "substantially damaged" by shipments from Brazil between 2013 and 2016, when the country supplied more than half of China's imports of chicken meat.
'Very Disappointing'
A source at the Brazilian embassy in Beijing said the move was "very disappointing".
"We are not convinced that there is dumping or injury or a causal link," he said, declining to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the topic.
While the initial result of a probe that started last August had been expected this month, it also comes as the U.S. pushes to recover access to the Chinese poultry market amid ongoing trade talks.
China has agreed to increase its imports of American farm goods in recent negotiations designed to avert a trade war between the top two trading nations.
"We're very, very concerned with those negotiations because what we don't want to see is Brazilian exporters at a disadvantage vis-a-vis other competitors that may also be in a position to export to this country," said the embassy source.
The anti-dumping measures will be another blow to Brazil's meat exporters, who are still recovering from the fallout of a food safety scandal.
Trade Bans
Last month, top global chicken exporter BRF said rising grain prices and trade bans in key markets had stymied efforts to return the company to profit.
Analysts and industry were not surprised by the decision, and noted it was still an initial ruling and could change.
A Brazilian industry source said the commerce ministry had proposed further negotiations with exporters, including the possibility of setting a floor price for exports to China.
It is not yet clear if the industry would accept such a proposal, he said.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
