NEWS
PROTESTING COGNAC WORKERS ASKED FOR DELAY OF EU VOTE ON CHINESE EV TARIFFS
By Siulan Law Mathews DipWSET
23-9-2024
Source: AA/YouTube
Some 800 workers from France’s Cognac industry protested last week on their tractors to demand a delay to the European Union (EU) vote to impose additional duties on Chinese electric vehicles (Evs).
Cognac’s trade association Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC) believed that China will slap anti-dumping duties of 34.8 percent on imports of EU wine-based and marc-based spirits as a retaliation to EU’s EV duties.
At the same time when Cognac workers are taking to the streets, BNIC wrote an appeal to France’s new Prime Minister Michel Barnier demanding a postponement of the EV tariffs vote.
“We are making a solemn appeal to our new Prime Minister to act swiftly to prevent a catastrophe that is foreseeable but still avoidable,” wrote BNIC in the appeal.
“The date of the final vote on taxing Chinese cars, arbitrarily moved up by the European Commission to 25 September, must be postponed,” it said.
“As tens of thousands of jobs in France depend on this, and given that the context that prevailed when the procedures in question were launched has significantly changed, they need more time to assess the real impact of the decision that is about to be made on our sector, our region, and the French economy as a whole.”
“The coming days will be crucial for our sectors and for our new government. We appeal for their protection and remain fully available to define a crisis resolution that is acceptable to all,” it added.
With more than 4,400 farms and over 70,000 jobs, France’s Cognac industry is already in trouble after it saw a 22 percent drop in sales in 2023.
The threat of losing the Chinese market could be existential for some Cognac makers, who count on overseas consumers for up to 60 percent of their profits.
China imported more brandy than any other spirit in 2022, with most of it coming from France, according to a report by research group Daxue Consulting.
Beijing and Brussels are caught in an escalating trade war, prompted by an EU proposal to adopt additional duties of up to 36.3 percent on Chinese-made EVs from October.
China started anti-dumping probe on EU brandies in January as retaliation, which was then extended to pork and dairy products.
Late last month, China’s ministry of commerce announced that it has found that EU brandies have been sold 30.6 percent to 39.0 percent below market price in China, and this has caused damages to its domestic industry.
It said provisional anti-dumping duties will not be taken for the time being but will not rule out slapping punitive tariffs when the probe finishes on or before 5 January 2025.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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