NEWS
MACRON HAILED POSITIVE STEP AS MOST COGNAC MAKERS EXEMPT FROM CHINA’S ANTI-DUMPING DUTIES
By Tony Zhu
7-7-2025
Credit: Siulan Law Mathews
Most of France’s Cognac industry will be exempt from China’s anti-dumping duties on EU brandies provided they sell at a minimum price, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
French President Emmanuel Macron hailed the ruling as a ‘positive step’, after Beijing granted exemptions to France’s major Cognac makers.
The tentative signs of a thaw in the row over Cognac came as China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with French President Macron and Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris last Friday.
China announced last Friday that anti-dumping duties of up to 34.9 percent will be levied on European brandies.
But Beijing also said that several major French Cognac producers had signed onto a price commitment to avoid the tariffs as long as they sell at or above an agreed minimum price.
France’s Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC), which includes key producers from Hennessy to Remy Cointreau and Martell, confirmed that major Cognac producers had agreed to price increases in China to avoid anti-dumping taxes.
French Cognac and liqueur maker Remy Cointreau pointed to “an alternative that is significantly less punitive than the application of definitive anti-dumping duties.”
The price list seen earlier by Reuters included a "minimum import price" for different bands of Cognac defined by how long the spirit has been aged, ranging from two years for the cheapest "Very Special" (VS) Cognacs to the most expensive "Extra Extra Old" (XXO), aged 14 years or more.
Under the offer, VS Cognac would have a minimum import price of RMB144.70 (USD20.16) per litre, while "Very Superior Old Pale" (VSOP), aged for at least four years, would be priced at a minimum of RMB177.92.
High-end "Extra Old" (XO) would cost RMB526.52 to import, with the XXO category costing at least RMB2,126.07 (USD296.16) per litre.
These prices refer to the price paid for Cognac by importers in China, with distributors, wholesalers, retailers and consumers paying more to buy it.
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, as interim measures before investigations conclude on 4 April which was later extended to 5 July.
French Cognac makers have been severely affected, 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.
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.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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