by Mei Mei Chu
BEIJING (Reuters) – Dutch, Italian and French dairy companies are targeted by China’s anti-subsidy investigation into the import of dairy products from the European Union, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said on Monday.
The world’s second-largest economy launched an investigation in August into the import of certain cheeses, milks and creams from the European Union.
Details of the investigation were published after EU member states adopted tariffs of up to 45%. Italy, France and the Netherlands, in particular, voted in favor of the introduction of these customs duties, Belgium abstained.
China’s Ministry of Commerce said it would use samples collected from Elvi (France) Co., Ltd. for its investigation. (ELVIR), FrieslandCampina Nederland BV, FrieslandCampina Belgium NV as well as the Italian company Sterilgarda Alimenti SPA.
The companies were chosen based on their export volume, product structure and geographic distribution, the Chinese ministry said in a statement.
The European Commission opened a procedure with the World Trade Organization after the launch of the Chinese investigation.
In 2023, the EU was China’s second-largest source of dairy products with at least 36% of total import value, behind New Zealand, according to Chinese customs data.
The EU exported 1.7 billion euros worth of dairy products to China in 2023, compared to 2 billion in 2022, according to data from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, which cites Eurostat.
(Zhifan Liu for the , edited by Sophie Louet)
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