China to impose preliminary anti-dumping duties on pork from EU

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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China announced Friday that it is imposing provisional anti-dumping duties of up to 62.4% on imports of pork from the European Union, deepening a trade dispute between Beijing and the 27-member European economic bloc.

The Commerce Ministry said in a statement that it made a preliminary determination that Europe is dumping pork and pig by-products on the Chinese market.

Dumping refers to a practice of selling goods in a market at below the price of production or lower than the price charged in the exporting country's domestic market. China's government charged that the prices of EU-produced pork were causing “substantial damage” to China’s pork industry but did not specify further.

It said it was imposing duties that range from 15.6% to 62.4% starting on Sept. 10. The statement said the decision was preliminary and it was taking cash deposits from EU pork exporters. The Commerce Ministry did not make clear if those deposits could be returned, and if so, under what conditions.

China and the EU have multiple trade disputes across a range of industries.

China opened its investigation into EU pork imports in June of last year just days after the EU imposed provisional tariffs on China-made electric vehicles. The following month Beijing imposed anti-dumping duties on European brandy, most notably cognac produced in France, though major brandy producers received exemptions.

The investigation into EU pork covered various products including fresh and frozen pork meat, intestines and other internal organs. Countries including Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark will be the most affected.

EU exports of pork products to China hit a peak at 7.4 billion euros ($7.9 billion) in 2020 when Beijing had to turn abroad to satisfy domestic demand after its pig farms were decimated by a swine disease. Since then they have dropped, hitting 2.5 billion euros ($2.6 billion) in 2023. Almost half of that total came from Spain.

China is also investigating the potential dumping of European dairy products.

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Associated Press news researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed to this report.