The Chinese commerce ministry has imposed anti-dumping measures on imports from the European Union, exacerbating trade tensions that spiked when the bloc imposed tariffs on China-made electric vehicles. In July, the EU introduced provisional tariffs of up to 37.6 per cent on imports of China-made EVs describing them as unfairly subsidised. Below are details on China’s multiple investigations into EU industries:
China announced on December 16 duties ranging from 4.9 per cent to 19.8 per cent on EU pork imports for a five-year period, significantly lower than preliminary rates of 15.6 per cent to 62.4 per cent imposed in September following a commerce ministry investigation into alleged dumping.
The decision marked the conclusion of an 18-month probe, with importers to receive refunds on the difference between the preliminary and final rates.
In a statement, the European Commission pledged to defend EU farmers and exporters against what it called Beijing’s “abusive use of trade defence instruments” and said it was “carefully assessing all the information available against compliance with WTO rules”.
China imported $4.8 billion worth of pork in 2024 – more than half of it from the EU, with Spain leading the bloc in exports by volume.
The Chinese commerce ministry imposed duties of up to 34.9 per cent on EU brandy producers from July 5, 2025 for five years. However, it spared major cognac producers Pernod Ricard , LVMH and Remy Cointreau by giving exceptions to brands selling at an undisclosed minimum price. The French cognac industry generates total global exports of $3 billion a year and makes up almost all of China’s EU brandy imports.
China’s commerce ministry said in a statement on Saturday that 34 firms secured agreements for minimum price commitments instead of tariffs.
On December 22, China imposed provisional duties of 21.9 per cent to 42.7 per cent on certain dairy products imported from the EU, following an anti-subsidy probe that began in August 2023.
The ministry said preliminary evidence showed imported dairy products originating from the EU were subsidised, causing substantial damage to China’s domestic industry.
China imported $589 million of dairy products covered by the current investigation in 2024, similar to 2023 values.
In May, Beijing announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 per cent on imports of POM copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from the United States, the European Union, Japan and Taiwan. According to the announcement, the highest anti-dumping rates of 74.9 per cent were levied on imports from the US, while European shipments were set to face duties of 34.5 per cent . In August, China extended anti-dumping duties on phenol imports from the US, the European Union, South Korea, Japan and Thailand for five years.
On December 19, China announced it would maintain anti-dumping duties ranging from 12.5 per cent to 222 per cent on rubber products from the US, South Korea and the EU, as it reviewed the measure initially imposed five years ago.
The duties apply to ethylene-propylene-non-conjugated diene rubber, a product widely used in construction, wiring and the auto industry.>
