NEWS
COGNAC BUREAU CALLED FOR IMMEDIATE BEIJING TALKS AS EXPORTS TO CHINA SLUMPED
By Susan Lewis
6-2-2025
Credit: Thomas Park/Unsplash
French Cognac exports to China slumped by 23.8 percent by value and 9.6 percent by volume last year as Beijing’s anti-dumping measures on European brandies take its toll, data from the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC) showed.
Globally, French Cognac exports dropped by 10.6 percent in value compared to 2023. The fall was driven by a 24.2 percent decrease in the value of exports to the Far East region, which is mainly represented by China.
Despite strong objection from member states including Germany and Hungary, the EU voted to impose extra tariffs ranging from 7.8 percent for Tesla to 35.3 percent for SAIC and other Chinese EV producers last October.
In retaliation, China started to levy importers of European brandies security deposits ranging from 30.6 to 39.0 percent of the import value from 11 October.
“The sharp fall in our shipments to China since last October makes a rapid political solution to the problem of Chinese taxes more necessary than ever,” said BNIC.
The body said it now expects the French government to get the planned bilateral negotiations with Beijing underway now.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in early January that prime minister Bayrou will travel to China to try to discuss the trade dispute.
Meanwhile, French drinks giant Pernod Ricard - which owns the Martell Cognac brand - reported a 25 percent decline in China sales in its half-year results.
The company reported an organic sales decline of 4 percent to €61.8 billion (USD64.38b) year-on-year. They were 6 percent lower in absolute terms.
The company now also faces the threat of US tariffs on Mexico, Canada and the EU, which would affect products ranging from Irish and Canadian whiskies like Jameson to tequila and agave brands like Codigo 1530.
Pernod Ricard said such intense geopolitical uncertainties forced it to revisit its guidance. Against a previous forecast of returning to sales growth for the full financial year to June 2025, it now predicts a low single-digit decline in organic net sales for the year.
The company said it expects to see an improving trend in organic net sales in the year to June 2026 which will be a “transitional year” with growth picking up to between 3 and 6 percent from 2027 to 2029.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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