SHANGHAI: China spared major cognac producers Pernod Ricard and Remy Cointreau from new duties of up to 35 per cent on European Union brandy announced on Friday (Jul 4), provided they sell at a minimum price.
China’s Commerce Ministry issued its final ruling following an investigation into brandy originating in the European Union, most of it cognac from France, first launched last year.
Duties of up to 34.9 per cent for a period of five years starting from Jul 5, 2025, would be levied on those without minimum price commitments or those that breached promised minimums, the ministry said in a statement. It did not disclose the minimum prices.
In addition, China’s commerce ministry will also give back deposits made by brandymakers since October 2024, when provisional duties were imposed. The refund issue, which weighed particularly heavily on smaller producers, was one of the sticking points in months-long negotiations, two industry sources said.
Remy Martin-owner Remy Cointreau said in a statement that the deal on minimum price commitments constituted “a substantially less punitive alternative”, thus enabling “the strengthening of some investments in China”.
French cognac makers generate global exports of US$3 billion a year combined. They have complained they are collateral damage in a broader trade row between Brussels and Beijing over import tariffs imposed on China-made electric vehicles (EVs).
China imposed temporary anti-dumping measures last October of up to 39 per cent on imports of brandy from the EU, including Hennessy and Remy Martin, after the bloc accused Beijing of giving its auto industry unfair subsidies, and imposed duties on imports of Chinese-made EVs.
“The French government has been raising this repeatedly with the Chinese government and saying this is a major bone of contention,” said a senior French industry source with knowledge of the China negotiations, who declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media.
“I think both sides, France and China, did not want this to get out of hand, they wanted to find a resolution.”
The Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC), a French cognac industry group, said that the deal for minimum price commitments will be “less unfavourable” than anti-dumping duties, but still worse for its members than the historical pre-investigation norm.
“This is why we renew our call to the French government and the European Commission to reach a political agreement with the Chinese authorities as soon as possible to return to a situation without anti-dumping duties,” BNIC said in a statement.
Monthly cognac exports to China, the world’s most valuable market for the spirit, have fallen by as much as 70 per cent due to the trade dispute, according to data from the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC), an industry body.
Last week, Reuters reported that French cognac makers had reached a tentative deal on minimum import prices for the Chinese market, but that China would only finalise the deal if progress was made regarding EU tariffs on Chinese-made EVs.
Pernod Ricard, Remy Cointreau, LVMH’s and Campari did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.
The news will likely be welcomed by brandy distillers that have also seen sales slow in the United States, the world’s biggest cognac market by volume, as a result of inflation and economic uncertainty.
