Overview

• China’s Finance Ministry announced on July 6 that government procurement of European Union medical devices exceeding 45 million yuan will be blocked effective immediately.
• Beijing described the measure as a direct response to the EU’s International Procurement Instrument, which in June barred Chinese suppliers from public medical-device tenders.
• The ministry clarified that European companies with manufacturing operations in China are exempt from the import restrictions.
• On July 4, China imposed duties of up to 34.9% on EU-originating brandy, mainly French cognac, under a separate five-year retaliatory investigation.
• Chinese authorities have also opened probes into European pork and dairy imports following the EU’s tariffs on China-built electric vehicles.