BEIJING—China will not impose provisional tariffs on European brandy makers, the government announced Thursday, even though it said it had found evidence of dumping.
Beijing launched an investigation in January into brandy imported from the European Union, months after the EU undertook an investigation into Chinese electric vehicle subsidies.
An organization representing French Cognac producers expressed alarm over China’s dumping claims, saying Cognac houses are “collateral damage in a conflict out of their control”.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said the probe followed a complaint filed in November by China’s liquor association on behalf of the domestic brandy industry.
Beijing’s investigation found that imported brandy from the European Union had been dumped into China and “the domestic brandy industry was threatened with substantial damage”, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
But “no provisional anti-dumping measures will be adopted at this time”, the statement added, not ruling out future tariffs. AFP
