On 29 August 2024, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) issued an announcement regarding provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of EU wine-based and marc-based spirits. These provisional duties, which are not applied for now, average 34.8%, in spite of the evidence provided by the EU producers that no dumping occurred. This arbitrary decision, if confirmed at the final stage of the investigation, will negatively impact EU wine-based and marc-based spirits exports to China, a major export destination for these categories and the world’s largest spirits market.
This announcement is extremely disappointing for our sector. The tariffs, if applied, would constitute an unjustified market access barrier and have a detrimental impact on EU exports of wine-based and marc-based spirits to China, which represent the lion’s share (around 90%) of direct EU spirits exports to China in value. This decision is all the more incomprehensible because our sector has fully cooperated with the Chinese authorities throughout the entire investigation process initiated in January 2024 and has demonstrated complete transparency and no wrongdoing in its practices. The only silver lining at this stage is that the provisional duties will not apply for now.
The evidence our sector provided throughout the investigation demonstrated that the conditions for initiating an investigation were not met. In contrast, the evidence of dumping, injury, and causal link provided in the application was insufficient to justify the initiation of an investigation. Our sector seems to be a collateral victim of a broader trade conflict, which will limit the access of Chinese consumers to products they greatly value and appreciate, if not resolved as a matter of priority.
We call for the full support of the European Commission for immediate negotiations to ensure these provisional duties never apply. Meanwhile, we stand ready to keep cooperating to the best of our abilities with the investigation.
