China announced that starting Saturday, July 5, it will impose anti-dumping duties of up to 34.9% on brandy imported from the European Union, escalating tensions between the two major trading partners.

Last year, Beijing launched an investigation into European brandy, a few months after the EU began a probe into Chinese subsidies for electric vehicles.

Later, China stated that a preliminary ruling had established the existence of dumping and imposed “provisional anti-dumping measures” on imports.

The Ministry of Commerce noted that China’s Customs Tariff Commission had “decided to impose anti-dumping duties on imports of the relevant brandy originating from the EU starting from July 5, 2025.”

“The investigating authority has finally ruled that dumping of brandy imported from the EU does exist. The domestic brandy production industry is threatened with significant damage, and there is a causal relationship between the dumping and this threat,” the statement read.

According to the ministry, the duties will apply to brandy in containers of less than 200 litres.

It specified that the tax rate for the French spirits giant Jas Hennessy will be 34.9%.

Remy Martin will face a duty of 34.3%, while Martell will be subject to a rate of 27.7%. | BGNES