China on Wednesday mentioned it opened an anti-subsidy probe into imported dairy merchandise from the European Union, stepping up pressure with the bloc a day after Brussels revealed its revised tariff plan for China-made electrical autos.
The EU on Tuesday revised its proposed punitive duties on imports of Chinese EVs to 36.3% from an initially deliberate obligation of 37.6% however fell wanting abandoning them, as Beijing had referred to as on Brussels to do.
The revision drew a rebuke from China’s commerce ministry, which responded that it’s “firmly opposed to and highly concerned” concerning the findings and vowed to take all essential measures to guard Chinese companies.
The anti-subsidy investigation on dairy introduced by China’s commerce ministry on Wednesday will deal with numerous varieties of cheeses, milks and lotions supposed for human consumption. It was prompted by a grievance submitted by the Dairy Association of China and the China Dairy Industry Association on July 29 on behalf of the home dairy business, the ministry mentioned.
China will look at 20 subsidy schemes from throughout the 27-strong bloc, particularly these from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czechia, Finland, Italy, Ireland, and Romania, it mentioned in an announcement.
Of the international locations listed, Ireland is by far the largest exporter of dairy merchandise to China, having bought $461 million price of products to the Asian nation final yr.
According to Chinese customs knowledge, the EU was China’s second-largest supply of dairy merchandise, with not less than 36% of the entire worth of imports in 2023, behind solely New Zealand.
The EU exported 1.7 billion euros ($1.84 billion) in dairy merchandise to China in 2023, down from 2 billion in 2022, in accordance with knowledge from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, which cited Eurostat.
China already launched an anti-dumping probe into imports of EU pork in June, which primarily affected Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, in a tit-for-tat transfer in opposition to the EV tariffs.
“The combined value of EU pork and dairy exports to China – areas of goods potentially affected by tariffs – are smaller than the value of China’s battery EV exports to the EU, which we estimate to stand at around $13.5 billion in 2023,” Chim Lee, senior China analyst on the Economist Intelligence Unit.
“Domestic economic pressures, alongside the increasingly important role played by external demand in supporting China’s economy, will keep Chinese policymakers cautious about invoking an overly confrontational approach to trade,” Lee mentioned.
Source: www.dailysabah.com