Brussels sees Beijing’s new tariffs of up to 42.7% on European dairy products as unjustified

The European Commission said this Monday that it takes note with “concern” of the new provisional tariffs that China has announced that it will impose on imports of dairy products from the European Union, with taxes that range between 21.9% and 42.7% and that Brussels considers “unjustified.”

“The assessment of the European Commission is that investigation is based on questionable accusations and insufficient evidence and that, therefore, the measures are unjustified,” the community spokesperson for Commerce, Olof Gill, said in a press conference.

Thus, the community Executive takes note “with concern” of Beijing’s announcement and will now take the necessary time to evaluate the Chinese authorities’ preliminary conclusions and submit its formal comments in response.

In this context, the Commission will analyze “all the information available” to defend that the provisional measure It goes against the rules established by the World Trade Organization (WTO)said the spokesperson, who pointed out that the deadline given by China to conclude its investigation before deciding whether the tariffs will be permanent ends on February 21.

“We do everything It is in our power to defend the farmers and producers of the Unionas well as the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), of China’s unfair use of trade defense instruments,” Gill warned, recalling that Brussels has already gone to the WTO to denounce the initiation of this investigation by Beijing. “As always, the Commission will take all necessary measures,” the spokesperson stressed.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has announced that it will impose provisional tariffs starting this Tuesday between 21.9% and 42.7% against imports of a series of dairy products originating in the European Union by preliminarily determining that the subsidies received by them caused “substantial harm” to the Chinese dairy industry.

Following the investigation launched in August 2024 at the request of the China Dairy Association and the China Dairy Industry Association, Beijing has preliminarily determined that imported dairy products originating from the European Union “were subsidized”, which caused “substantial damage” to the dairy industry of the Asian giant, for which it considers that “there is a causal relationship between the subsidies and said substantial damage.”

Thus, based on the recommendation of the Ministry of Commerce, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council has decided to implement from December 23 “provisional anti-subsidy measures” on imported dairy products originating in the European Union in the form of compensatory deposit duties that will be paid to the Customs of the People’s Republic of China, in accordance with the ad valorem subsidy rates determined for each company. Affected dairy products include fresh cheese and curds, processed cheese (grated or powdered), blue cheese and other textured cheeses, milk and cream.

The rates announced this Monday range between the 21.9% set for the Italian Sterilgarda Alimenti and 42.7% for some subsidiaries of the Dutch FrieslandCampina. In the case of affected Spanish companies such as Campo de San Juan, CAPSA, Innolact, Grouped Industrial Dairies or Mollerusa Dairy Industriesthe provisional tariff set will be 28.6%.