BEIJING: China on Friday placed preliminary anti-dumping duties as high as 62.4% on pork imports worth over $2 billion from the European Union, deepening a trade dispute with the bloc arising from its tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
The Ministry of Commerce’s preliminary investigation into pork products found evidence of dumping that damaged the domestic industry and approved duties starting on September 10, according to a release on Friday.
Companies that collaborated with the investigation, among them Spanish, Danish and Dutch firms, received duties ranging from 15.6% to 32.7%. All other firms were assigned 62.4%.
Launched in June last year, the investigation is widely seen as retaliation for EU tariffs and has hit major producers such as Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark.
A significant portion of the bloc’s pork shipments to China consists of offal – including pig ears, noses and feet – highly valued in Chinese cuisine but with few alternative destinations.
Friday’s decision is bad news for producers who had hoped Beijing’s decision to extend the investigation for six months in June this year meant a deal over the bloc’s electric vehicle tariffs was in the offing.
The decision is only preliminary and could theoretically be changed before the investigation ends in December. There is also precedent for China extending investigations after levying tariffs, as in the case of Canadian canola.
“The investigation was extended through December earlier this year, but that only leaves a few months to find a negotiated solution. The odds of that are increasingly slim,” said Even Rogers Pay, an analyst at Beijing-based Trivium China who specialises in agriculture.
In a separate release accompanying the decision, the Ministry of Commerce said it was willing to handle trade frictions with the European Union through dialogue and consultation.
A significant portion of the bloc’s pork shipments to China consists of offal – including pig ears, noses and feet – highly valued in Chinese cuisine but with few alternative destinations.
