China has reportedly postponed concluding its anti-dumping investigation into EU brandy products.
According to reports from news outlets Bloomberg and Reuters on Friday (28 March), France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told journalists during a trip to China the completion of the probe had been delayed three months.
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“This measure should give us a few months’ breathing space with the reopening of duty-free sales of Cognac and Armagnac, which represent a significant volume of sales for some brands,” he said in emailed comments to Bloomberg.
In January, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced it had extended its anti-dumping probe of brandy originating from the EU by three months.
The investigation, launched on 5 January 2024 and initially due to last one year, was expected to be completed by 5 April.
Cognac makers, such as Pernod Ricard, have been unable to sell in duty-free channels for some time.
In February, following the early release of Pernod Ricard’s first-half results, CFO Hélène de Tissot said the company had seen a “worsening situation” in China linked to the “technical suspension of the duty-free regime impacting travel retail [in] Asia. To be more specific, China duty free and Cognac in China duty free”.
When contacted by Just Drinks on the latest reports, France’s national Cognac trade body Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC) said it had noted the announcement to the press.
It added: “We need to study in more detail the feedback we will receive from the French government very shortly.”
The latest news does not mean existing tariffs on brandy are removed, according to Reuters.
In October, China’s commerce ministry imposed “provisional dumping measures” on imports of EU-origin brandy.
Since 11 October, companies importing products including brandy have had to pay a security deposit to Chinese authorities upon arrival.
The sum of the deposit is equivalent to tariffs recommended by the commerce ministry in August following the release of a preliminary report of its investigation.
China launched its investigation last year after receiving complaints of brandy dumping from the China Liquor Industry Association. The move followed the EU’s launch of an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles in September 2023.
The probe has been assessing dumping allegations made between 1 October 2022 and 30 September 2023 for EU brandy imported in containers of under 200 litres.
