China to impose up to 42.7% tariffs on EU dairy products
China will impose provisional tariffs of up to 42.7% on dairy products imported from the European Union, including milk and cheese, the country’s Commerce Ministry announced on Monday.
The higher duties will take effect on Tuesday and are based on preliminary findings from an investigation launched by the Commerce Ministry in August 2024, amid escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels, News.Az reports, citing AP.
As part of the probe, Chinese authorities reviewed subsidies granted by EU member states to their dairy and other agricultural products.
The investigation was initiated as part of a tit-for-tat trade response after the European Union examined Chinese subsidies for electric vehicles and subsequently imposed tariffs of up to 45.3% on EVs manufactured in China.
In response to the EU’s measures on Chinese electric vehicles, China also launched separate investigations into European brandy and pork imports and called on the bloc to remove its EV tariffs.
According to the Commerce Ministry, the provisional tariffs on EU dairy imports will range from 21.9% to 42.7%. The measures will apply to a range of dairy products, including fresh and processed cheese, blue cheese, milk, and cream with a fat content exceeding 10% by weight.
The ministry said its preliminary investigation concluded that subsidies provided by the EU and its member states to their dairy industries had caused damage to China’s domestic dairy sector.
Beijing’s probe into EU dairy products covered subsidies given under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy and subsidies offered to farmers by EU countries including Italy, Ireland and Finland, the Commerce Ministry said in August 2024.
China’s relationship with the EU is fractious, with the Chinese trade surplus with the EU recently coming into the spotlight. The EU runs a significant trade deficit with China, at more than 300 billion euros ($352 billion) last year.
Last week, Beijing announced it was imposing up to 19.8% tariffs on EU pork imports -- significantly lower than preliminary tariffs of up to 62.4%.
It accused the EU of dumping pork and pig by-products in the country, selling them at cheap prices which in turn harmed its domestic pork industry.
In July, Beijing also announced up to 34.9% tariffs on brandy imported from the EU -- including cognac from France -- although several major brandy brands had received exemptions.
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