China imposed a levy on brandy from the European Union, escalating a trade dispute days after the bloc’s decision to boost tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
Importers will have to pay a deposit of as much as 39% of the value of brandy sourced from the EU effective Oct 11, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement published on its website Tuesday. The document specifically mentioned European spirits makers controlled by Remy Cointreau and Pernod Ricard, among others.
The action against European brandy exporters comes after the EU decided last week to impose tariffs of as high as 45% on imports of Chinese electric vehicles for five years. Most of China’s imports of the liquor come from France, which voted for the tariffs on Chinese cars.
Talks between the EU and China are continuing, and if those are successful then it’s possible the deposits could be refunded.
China announced an anti-dumping probe into European brandy in January this year after the start of the EU investigation into its electric vehicle subsidies.
China said in August that it found evidence of dumping by European spirits producers in a preliminary probe but withheld levying tariffs then.
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The EU had criticised China’s investigation into brandy and other goods, with European trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis telling Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao last month that they were “unwarranted, are based on questionable allegations, and lack sufficient evidence”.
Dombrovskis had requested that China end these probes and said Europe would “do its utmost to defend the interests of its industries”.
