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RTHK
an hour ago
- RTHK
China imposes anti-dumping duty on EU brandy
China imposes anti-dumping duty on EU brandy The Commerce Ministry says its probe found the dumping of EU brandy threatens the domestic market. File photo: Reuters China said it will impose anti-dumping taxes of up to 34.9 percent on brandy imported from the European Union starting from Saturday, adding to tensions between the major trading partners. Beijing launched an investigation last year into EU brandy, months after the bloc undertook a probe into Chinese electric vehicle subsidies. It said later it had determined in a preliminary ruling that dumping had occurred and imposed temporary anti-dumping measures on imports. The Commerce Ministry said on Friday that China's tariff commission had "decided to impose anti-dumping duties on imports of relevant brandy originating in the EU from July 5, 2025". "The investigating authority finally ruled that there was dumping of relevant brandy imported from the EU," it said in a statement. "The domestic relevant brandy industry was threatened with substantial damages, and there was a causal relationship between the dumping and that threat." The levies will apply to brandy in containers of less than 200 litres, according to the ministry. It said the tax rate on French liquor giant Jas Hennessy would be 34.9 percent. Remy Martin will be hit with a levy of 34.3 percent, while Martell will be charged 27.7 percent. Some companies that had made minimum price commitments, including Pernod Ricard-owned Martell & Co and Remy Cointreu's Remy Martin, will be spared the higher tariff rate unless those commitments were breached. Monthly cognac exports to China, the world's most valuable market for the spirit, have fallen by as much as 70 percent due to the trade dispute, according to data from the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC), an industry body based in France. (AFP/Reuters)
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Europe's vow to Trump to push defence budget to 5% rings hollow
The commitment by Nato's 32 members to lift their defence spending to 5 per cent of their gross domestic product by 2035 has generated something between shock and awe and a feeling of being plunged into an Alice-in-Wonderland world. Advertisement Above all, the agreement , which would lift Nato defence spending from an estimated US$1.5 trillion to around US$4.2 trillion over the next 10 years, was an attempt to prevent US President Donald Trump from pulling the United States out of the transatlantic security alliance. This placatory gesture seems to have succeeded: Trump left the Nato summit reportedly purring, swearing unwavering commitment to Nato. But it must leave most practical observers incredulous as to how such a massive resource transfer might be achieved – and the implications if it did. For sure, defence spending needs to rise sharply across Europe – but 5 per cent? For perspective, note that in 2023, just nine countries worldwide spent 5 per cent of their GDP or more on defence: Algeria, Armenia, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan and, of course, Israel, Russia and Ukraine. For any normal democratically accountable government, the key should be how money is spent, not how much. China, which the US labels as its 'pacing threat' , is estimated to spend just 1.7 per cent of its GDP on defence. The imperative for Europe to reduce its reliance on US defence has been firmly driven home, and is probably long overdue. But anyone who believes Europe's governments will find an extra US$2.7 trillion for defence over the coming decade is living in dreamland. Advertisement It has taken a decade of hectoring, foot-dragging and Russia's invasion of Ukraine to get most Nato members to meet the 2 per cent defence commitment. Last year, 23 met the target, according to the Atlantic Council's tracker. Of the four members other than the US who surpassed 3 per cent in spending, three have long land borders with Russia: Poland at 4.12 per cent, Estonia at 3.43 per cent and Latvia at 3.15 per cent. Fingers are crossed that with a little creative accounting, the remainder will this year cross the 2 per cent line.
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Canada hopeful of getting ‘best possible' US trade deal with Trump
Canada's finance minister said the country can negotiate a better trade deal with the Trump administration than other nations have received, pushing back on the idea that it may have to settle for a new baseline tariff on all exports to the US. 'We buy more from the US than China, Japan, the UK and France combined, so we're not in the same league as others,' Francois-Philippe Champagne said in an interview. 'The competitiveness of North America depends on what happens between Canada and the United States,' he said, pointing to Canada's wealth of critical minerals and energy, the integrated supply chains across the border and its status as the largest supplier of aluminium to the US. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and US President Donald Trump have agreed to try to hammer out a deal by July 21 to govern the two countries' trade relationship, which saw them exchange more than US$900 billion in goods and services last year. The US had a trade deficit of US$36 billion with Canada in 2024, according to US government data, mostly because it guzzles millions of barrels a day of Canadian oil and fuels. Excluding energy, the US had a trade surplus with its northern neighbour. The US, Canada and Mexico have an existing trade pact that Trump signed during his first term. But the president paid little heed to it as he placed import taxes of 50 per cent on foreign steel and aluminium, along with levies on cars and trucks. 'The endgame for us is to have the best possible deal for Canadian workers and the Canadian industry,' Champagne said. 'We have, compared to many countries that are negotiating with the United States, already a trade agreement in place.'
