Since October 11, China has required importers of European brandies to post a deposit with Chinese customs, in response to European surcharges on Chinese electric cars.
( AFP / CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT )
Cognac professionals rejoiced on Tuesday, November 12, at a “positive signal” the day after the implementation of new “temporary anti-dumping measures” by China on brandies imported from the European Union (EU), which will be ” perhaps easier to manage.
Since October 11, China has imposed an obligation on importers of European brandies (wine-based spirits), including
cognac represents 95% of the total
to post a bond with Chinese customs, as part of an anti-dumping investigation. The latter is widely seen as a retaliatory measure after France's strong support for the EU's imposition of customs surcharges on electric cars imported from China.
On Monday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce indicated in a press release, presented as a “additional announcement”, that
the “temporary anti-dumping measures” would take “the form of a bond or a letter of guarantee”
.
“A gesture of openness”
“The duties hitherto collected in the form of a deposit remain due by Cognac importers, analyzes the national interprofessional cognac office (BNIC) in a press release sent to the
AFP
. More
they can now also be subject to a bank guarantee, perhaps easier to manage”
.
“We are currently looking at how this will be concretely applied. We nevertheless see this development as a positive signal,” adds the inter-professional association.
The director of the BNIC Raphaël Delpech even mentions in the newspaper
South West
“an eminently political message that we perceive as a gesture of openness.” “This shows that
the arguments of the French government were understood by the Chinese authorities
“, he adds. Last week, the French Minister for Foreign Trade, Sophie Primas, declared that negotiations remained “clearly open” with Beijing on this subject, without ruling out the option of a response from Paris .
The imposition of these customs surcharges is a hard blow for cognac, which is
ultra-dependent on exports (98% of its sales)
especially since China is its second largest market (25%).
The sector could also see access to its largest market, the United States (38%), become more complicated, since President-elect Donald Trump threatened during his campaign to increase customs duties in all directions.
In addition to brandies, China is also carrying out anti-dumping investigations targeting pork and dairy products imported from the EU, posing a threat to these sectors.
