EU pork exports to China could be affected by a trade war between the two trading giants, according to reports.
The state-backed Global Times reported that Chinese firms are considering an anti-dumping probe into pork imports from the EU, after Brussels announced on Wednesday that it will impose an additional provisional duty of between 17.4% and 38.1% on Chinese electric vehicle (EV) imports from early July.
The move has angered the Chinese Government and industry with the Global Times quoting ‘observers’ saying that it is ‘purely political, helping neither EU consumers nor EU auto industries’. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has vowed to take ‘necessary measures’ and China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) has said it reserves the right to resolve the dispute at the WTO, including filing applications for anti-dumping investigations.
The Global Times goes onto report that the relevant industries have collected evidence to file an application with authorities to launch an anti-dumping probe into certain EU pork and dairy products.
Reuters said no further further details of the proble, including which pork products would be targeted, were available. China imported $6 billion worth of pork in 2023, including offal, with the EU accounting for more than half, customs data showed, Reuters added.
The loss of the Chinese pork export market, even it has come back from the peaks of 2020, when China imported huge volumes after its pig herd was ravaged by African swine fever, would have huge implications for the EU pork market, including the UK, even it was not directly affected.
Global food companies were reportedly ‘on tenterhooks’ for possible retaliatory measures in response to the EV tariffs. Even Pay, an agriculture analyst at Beijing-based consultancy Trivium China, told Reuters the logic for Beijing’s action was ‘because farmers losing out on China’s giant market has immediate repercussions for elected officials’.
Spain was China’s top supplier of pork last year, followed by Brazil and the United States, and its pork producers association Interporc said its position as the leading supplier to China was based on quality and food safety, as well as ‘the trust that our companies have earned among Chinese operators as serious, loyal and rigorous partners’.
In France, Thierry Meyer, vice president of Inaporc, said the association was waiting to see if a probe would be launched. “It’s very hard to do without the Chinese market,” he said.
Commenting to Reuters about potential investigations by China into EU pork and dairy imports, the European Commission told Reuters: “The Chinese government can request a dispute settlement at the World Trade Organisation without needing to resort to retaliation.”