Authorities in China have said that an anti-dumping investigation will be launched into pork products originating from the EU.
Dumping, in an economic sense, refers to the export of produce to a another market at sufficient volume or at sufficiently-low prices so as to undermine the competitiveness of indigenous producers of the product in the target market.
It comes after the European Commission said last week that an investigation it carried out “provisionally concluded” that the production of electric vehicles (EVs) in China benefits from unfair subsidies.
The move by China to launch the anti-dumping investigation into EU pork products is seen as a response to the commission’s investigation.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said today (Monday, June 17) that it received an anti-dumping investigation application that was submitted on behalf of the domestic pork and pig by-products industry.
The ministry said that it reviewed the application and found that there was cause for an anti-dumping investigation into EU pork. The authorities confirmed that the investigation would begin from today.
The investigation will examine any potential dumping that occurred throughout 2023.
The investigation pertains to a range of pork and pig by-products for human consumption.
On June 12, the European Commission said that, as part of an ongoing investigation, it provisionally concluded that the battery EVs value chain in China “benefits from unfair subsidisation”.
The commission claimed that these subsidies are causing a threat of economic injury to EU battery EV producers.
As part of that preliminary finding, the commission disclosed the level of provisional countervailing duties it would impose on imports of battery EVs from China. These duties, ranging from 17% to 38% of value depending on the EV producer, will be implemented from July 4 if talks on the issue with China prove fruitless.
Reacting to these duties and the EU’s investigation, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce claimed that the commission’s findings “lack both factual and legal basis”.
The Chinese ministry also said that the country’s battery EV sector operates on the basis of “open competition”, and claimed that the EU’s “blatant protectionism creates and escalates trade frictions”.
All this comes after an unconfirmed report had suggested Chinese companies may call on authorities to also undertake an “anti-subsidy investigation” into its imports of EU dairy products.
In a recent social media post, the Chinese state-backed newspaper, The Global Times, claimed that “relevant” industries in the country are “preparing evidence”.
The paper said it had been informed by “a business insider” that these companies “plan to apply to competent authorities” to launch a probe into imports of “relevant dairy products from the EU”.
A spokesperson for the European Commission told Agriland at the time that it does not comment on speculation.
China is the third-largest destination for the EU’s agri-food exports, accounting for nearly 7% of the bloc’s total agri-food trade.
The EU exported €1.7 billion worth of dairy products to China in 2023, down from just over €2 billion in the previous year.