Overview
- The provisional countervailing duties took effect Tuesday and apply to specified shipments entering China.
- Beijing’s commerce ministry says a preliminary probe found EU dairy received subsidies that caused substantial injury to China’s industry.
- The measures cover fresh and processed cheeses, blue cheeses, and certain milks and creams.
- The European Commission calls the case unjustified, has engaged the WTO process, and notes the move comes as trade frictions intensify, including new Chinese duties on EU pork.
- French industry groups warn the surtaxes could choke off cream and cheese exports to China, exposing about 50,000 tonnes of cream and nearly 6,000 tonnes of cheese from France and pressuring farm-gate milk prices.