China's Tariff Blow to the European Union: Beijing, as previously threatened, has decided to impose anti-dumping tariffs starting this Saturday on European brandy, mainly produced in France.
The news coincides with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Paris, who has been on a week-long tour of Europe to strengthen relations with the EU amid the turmoil caused by Donald Trump's trade war.
An investigation specifically announced on French cognac concluded on July 5. If no agreement was reached by then, the temporary tariffs that Beijing had imposed last year of up to 39% would become permanent.
Just a few days ago, the National Interprofessional Cognac Bureau (BNIC), the main representative of the cognac industry in France, reported that both parties had negotiated a preliminary agreement to establish a minimum import price, pending approval by Chinese authorities.
"There is dumping of brandy imported from the EU, the national brandy industry faces a significant threat, and there is a causal relationship between the dumping and this threat. The determined dumping margins range from 27.7% to 34.9%," said a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Friday.
After Brussels pressured Beijing last year by imposing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, Chinese authorities responded with anti-dumping investigations on imports of French brandy and pork, which particularly affected Spain, the main pork exporter to China.
However, the close relations between the governments of Pedro Sánchez and Xi Jinping led Beijing to announce recently that it will extend the pork investigation until December 16. Additionally, this year, Spain and China signed several agreements to expand the list of pork products authorized for export to the Asian market.
Meanwhile, in France, cognac companies have complained that they are suffering collateral damage from the trade dispute between the EU and China after their country supported tariffs on electric vehicles manufactured in China.
In recent days, the Chinese Foreign Minister portrayed his trip to Europe (visiting Brussels, Berlin, and Paris) as a mission to build a "pillar of stability" to counterbalance the turmoil caused by Trump. Wang Yi also set the stage for the summit to be held on July 24 in Beijing between China and the EU, who are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations this month.
On Wednesday, Wang met with the EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, and one of the main topics of discussion was the EU's requests to China to lift restrictions on the export of sought-after rare earths and critical minerals, crucial materials for new technologies. Since April, Xi's government has required licenses to export these strategic materials from China, which accounts for nearly two-thirds of global rare earth mining production and 92% of refined global production.
Despite Beijing and Brussels' efforts in recent months to reduce tensions, ties remain strained due to the huge $357.1 billion trade deficit with China and the strong partnership that the Asian superpower maintains with Russia.