The EU is engaging regularly with Chinese authorities to solve the "unacceptable" situation faced by European brandy producers who are seeing their products blocked from the market even after paying provisional dumping duties of up to 39 percent, a senior EU trade official said today. Maria Martin-Prat De Abreu, Deputy Director-General for Asia at the European Commission, also criticized China for pressuring brandy producers to accept a minimum price agreement to avoid paying dumping duties, which the EU views as unjustified and unfounded.
The EU is in very regular talks with Chinese authorities to solve the "unacceptable" situation faced by European brandy producers who are seeing their products blocked from the market even after paying provisional dumping duties of up to 39 percent, a senior EU trade official said today. Maria Martin-Prat De Abreu, Deputy Director-General for Asia at the European Commission, also criticized China for pressuring brandy producers to accept a minimum price agreement to avoid paying dumping duties, which the EU views as unjustified and unfounded.
“The situation is one that I would describe as unacceptable, and we're trying to support [EU brandy producers] in terms of engaging with China on a very regular basis. This is on top of our priorities at the moment,” she told an MLex event*.
China launched a dumping investigation into imports of EU brandy, including cognac primarily produced in France, as well as grappa from Italy, in January 2024, a move widely seen as an effort to pressure the EU not to proceed with hefty subsidy duties on Chinese electric vehicles.
The Chinese move has been criticized by the French government and the European Commission as unjustified and contrary to global trade rules.
“We find the [brandy] case unfunded and anyone that looks at the details will agree with us,” Martin-Prat said.
She said EU brandy producers not only faced pressure to accept price undertakings because of provisional measures in the dumping case, but their products were also being blocked from circulation duty-free, despite having paid the provisional tariffs.
Chinese investigators determined last August that European brandy imports had been dumped on the Chinese market. Nevertheless, China's commerce ministry, or Mofcom, said provisional duties had been suspended, without providing further information.
But shortly after the EU imposed sweeping countervailing duties on electric vehicles made in China, Beijing enforced the provisional brandy measures from Oct. 11 last year. An announcement listed deposit rates ranging from 30.6 percent to 39 percent on EU exporters, including Martell, Jas Hennessy and E. Remy Martin.
The Chinese probe was initially set to conclude before Jan. 5. Mofcom then extended it, first to April 5 and later to July 5.
Earlier this month, Mofcom said that it reached a preliminary agreement with the EU brandy producers on minimum price undertakings. Those will oblige the EU brandy exporters to sell their products in China above a certain price floor to avoid paying definitive dumping duties, which are expected to be imposed by July 5.
The EU producers are now awaiting Mofcom's final approval of their offers to allow the agreement to become effective once the definitive duties are announced.
Under the potential agreement, French brandy exporters will be required to strictly adhere to minimum price commitments when selling their products in the Chinese market.
* “From US tariffs to a competitive China: Europe’s trade strategy of tomorrow,” MLex, Brussels, June 25, 2025.
Please email editors@mlex.com to contact the editorial staff regarding this story, or to submit the names of lawyers and advisers.