The European Commission promised this Thursday, August 22, 2024, to “firmly” defend the dairy industry in Europe, the day after the opening of a Chinese anti-dumping investigation concerning this sector in the European Union.
China’s investigation, announced shortly after Brussels announced a surcharge on Chinese electric vehicles, covers products such as fresh and sour milk cheese, blue cheese and some milk and cream products. “The Commission will firmly defend the interests of our dairy industry and our common agricultural policy,” said a spokesperson for the institution, Olof Gil, assuring that “all necessary measures will be taken to ensure that this investigation fully complies with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.”
A year of proceedings
The procedure launched by Beijing is set to last one year and could possibly be extended by six months. China could then decide to impose surcharges on these products to protect its market, if it demonstrates that the European Union’s practices are unfair and harm competition.
Beijing had already announced in January that it was investigating an alleged anti-competitive infringement of wine spirits, such as cognac, imported from the European Union and in particular from France, which had given rise to the Brussels investigation. In June, it launched an anti-dumping investigation into imports of pork and pork products from the European Union, goods mainly produced in Spain, France, the Netherlands and Denmark.
Last year, the European Union exported €1.68 billion worth of dairy products to China, according to Eurostat data cited by the European Commission. Earlier this month, China took the matter to the World Trade Organization (WTO) over surcharges on Chinese electric vehicles. It considers Brussels’ decision to be “political” and not based on “any factual basis.”
This article is originally published on lafranceagricole.fr
