China hits EU brandy imports in temporary anti-dumping move

Beijing/Paris: China imposed temporary anti-dumping measures on brandy imports from the European Union on Tuesday, hitting brands from Hennessy to Remy Martin, after the 27-state bloc voted for tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs).

An investigation has preliminarily determined that dumping of brandy from the EU is threatening China's own brandy sector with "substantial damage", the Chinese commerce ministry said.

Importers of brandy originating in the EU will, as of October 11, have to put down security deposits mostly ranging from 34.8 per cent to 39.0 per cent of the import value, the ministry added.

France was seen as the target of Beijing's brandy probe due to its support of tariffs on China-made EVs. It also accounted for 99 per cent of China's brandy imports last year, with French brandy shipments reaching $1.7 billion.

Hennessy and Remy Martin were among the brands worst-hit, with importers having to pay security deposits of 39.0 per cent and 38.1 per cent, respectively.

The deposits would make it more costly upfront to import brandy from the EU. It was not immediately clear how and when importers would be able to get back their deposits. The Chinese commerce ministry gave no details.

Shares in Pernod Ricard were down 2.9 per cent at 0714 GMT following the news, while Remy Cointreau was down 5 per cent and LVMH, owner of Hennessy, was down 4 per cent.

Companies that cooperated in the Chinese investigation were hit with security deposit rates of 34.8 per cent. The rate on Martell was the lowest, at 30.6 per cent.

French cognac trade body the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC), Pernod Ricard and Remy Cointreau did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The punitive measures came on the heels of a vote by the EU to adopt tariffs on China-made EVs by the end of October. Ahead of the vote in late August, China had suspended its planned anti-dumping measures on EU brandy, in an apparent goodwill gesture, despite determining that EU brandy had been sold in China at below-market prices.

At the time, the commerce ministry said its probe would end before Jan. 5, 2025, but that it could be extended.

China's commerce ministry previously said it had found that European distillers had been selling brandy in its 1.4 billion-strong consumer market at a dumping margin in the range of 30.6 per cent to 39 per cent and that its domestic industry had been damaged.

In the EU's decision to impose tariffs on China-made EVs, the bloc set tariff rates ranging from 7.8 per cent for Tesla to 35.3 per cent for SAIC and other producers deemed not to have cooperated with the EU's anti-subsidy investigation. These will come on top of the EU's standard 10% car import duty.

The European Commission has said it is willing to continue negotiating an alternative, even after tariffs are imposed.