China plans to hit cognac in response to European tariffs on electric cars
In the trade war between the European Union (EU) and China, the counter-attack has not been long in coming. Five days after Brussels' decision to impose tariffs of up to 35% on Chinese electric vehicles, Beijing announced on Tuesday, October 8, that importers of European brandy would have to lodge a security deposit with customs from Friday. It's a measure that particularly penalizes cognac, which accounts for 95% of brandies.
"From October 11," warned the Chinese ministry of commerce, "when importing brandies from the EU, importers must provide the corresponding deposit to customs in the People's Republic of China." This sum will be debited retroactively if Beijing decides to really hit these spirits, as it considers its domestic brandy industry "threatened with substantial damage" by its European competitors.
French Foreign Trade Minister Sophie Primas has declared that France, like the EU, will challenge these "incomprehensible measures" before the World Trade Organization (WTO), even though the organization has been struggling for years to settle disputes. In May, during the state visit of President Xi Jinping, his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron welcomed the fact that China was not imposing "provisional" taxes on spirits, and presented him with bottles of cognac, among other gifts.
