When Golden Sunflower Meets Bauhinia: HONGQI Showcases Oriental Luxury at 2025 International Automotive and Supply Chain Expo(Hong Kong)
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The Sun
20 minutes ago
- The Sun
China spares major cognac makers from EU brandy dumping duties
SHANGHAI: China spared major cognac producers Pernod Ricard, LVMH and Remy Cointreau from new duties of up to 35% on EU brandy on Friday, easing trade tensions with Brussels as Beijing seeks to resolve a separate row over tariffs on Chinese-made EVs. China will levy duties of up to 34.9% for a period of five years from July 5, 2025 on brandy originating in the European Union, most of it cognac from France, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a final ruling. But most of France's cognac industry including big brands LVMH-owned Hennessy and Remy Martin will be exempt from the duties provided they sell at a minimum price, the ministry said in a statement. It did not disclose the minimum prices. Beijing launched its anti-dumping probe on EU brandy in January last year, in what was widely viewed as retaliation for the EU's decision to impose hefty import tariffs on China-made EVs. French cognac makers generate global exports of $3 billion a year combined. They have complained they are collateral damage in the broader trade row between Brussels and Beijing. In addition to the reprieve, 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.' Even so, an EU spokesperson said the tariffs were unfair and unjustified. The move comes as China's foreign minister Wang Yi is visiting Europe this week seeking to lay the groundwork for a summit between EU and Chinese leaders later this month, with the EV dispute and China's curbs on the export of rare earths high on the agenda. Wang was due to meet his French counterpart in Paris later on Friday. 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 said it regrets the increase in the cost of operating in China but additional costs are significantly less than would be the case if tariffs had been made permanent. LVMH and Campari did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday. INVESTOR RELIEF Shares of French spirits makers were mixed as investors digested the ruling, with many relieved Beijing had agreed to drop tariffs in return for price commitments. Monthly cognac exports to China, the world's most valuable market for the spirit, have fallen by as much as 70% due to the trade dispute, according to data from the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC), a French cognac industry group. Remy Cointreau shares were up 0.54% and Pernod was down 0.3%, having regained some ground lost earlier in the day. LVMH was down 1.5%. European spirits makers have also been grappling with a downturn in sales in the United States where inflation has deterred drinkers from pricier spirits. President Donald Trump has also threatened tariffs on imports from the EU. The minimum price pledges could translate into some price increases, but they will likely be small and it is too early to tell whether there could be an impact on shelf prices, a senior industry source with knowledge of the China negotiations said. '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 of the sensitivity of the matter. 'I think both sides, France and China, did not want this to get out of hand, they wanted to find a resolution.' BNIC 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. - Reuters
The Star
32 minutes ago
- The Star
Hong Kong's all-male boards are all but gone as firms embrace diversity
Hong Kong's bourse operator has declared victory in its quest to eliminate all-male boards from companies listed on the region's third-largest stock exchange, an improvement in corporate governance that analysts said would help attract international investors. Fewer than 10 of Hong Kong's around 2,600 listed companies had all-male boards as of the end of June, according to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX). A spokesman said these exceptions were companies that had long been suspended from trading or were merely out of compliance temporarily because of a resignation. Eighty-five companies had all-male boards on January 1 when HKEX's ban on single-gender boards went into effect. In 2022, when the bourse operator unveiled the ban, more than 800 firms – or 40 per cent of listed companies – did not have a woman director. 'This requirement helped to create hundreds of new roles for female directors, reinforcing our commitment to fostering a more inclusive and diverse corporate environment and enhanced governance in our markets,' said Katherine Ng, HKEX's head of listing, in a statement to the Post. An example of a non-compliant company is property investment firm Paladin, which has six male board members. Its shares were suspended from trading in November because of insufficient business operations. To resume trading, the exchange would require a new business operation plan and at least one woman would need to join the board, the company said in February. More than 800 women had been added to listed companies' boards in the past four years, HKEX said. As of June, 21 per cent of directors were women, up from 20 per cent six months ago and 16 per cent four years ago when the single-gender ban was unveiled. The number of boards with multiple women increased to 43 per cent as of June from 35 per cent in 2022, and 21 per cent of listed companies now had boards where women accounted for a third of the directors. 'Ensuring more women on boards is a fundamental reform for listed companies anywhere, and it is confidence-building for investors to see HKEX taking definitive measures to move this along,' said Damien Green, a director of the Financial Services Development Council, a government agency that promotes the city as an international financial centre. Green cited the ban on all-male boards as a factor that helped the exchange's main board return to the top of the global league table for initial public offerings (IPOs) in the first half of the year. 'Strengthening corporate governance in the HKEX listing rules will not slow our market down but instead will help accelerate it, as international investors find yet another reason to have confidence in deploying their capital in Hong Kong,' he said. Funds from Hong Kong's IPOs soared eightfold to US$13.5 billion in the first six months, making the city's exchange the world's top IPO venue for the first time since 2019, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group. Despite progress, Hong Kong-listed companies trail their global peers in gender diversity on their boards. Globally, 27 per cent of board seats among around 3,000 companies in the MSCI All Country World Index were occupied by women as of 2024, up 1.5 per cent from a year earlier, MSCI said in February. Edmund Wong, a lawmaker for the accountancy sector, said he supported HKEX in promoting gender diversity, but added that the ability of directors was also important and that women with relevant experience could be in short supply in certain sectors. 'Listed companies in the construction sector or engineering may not easily find a lot of women,' Wong said. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
Malay Mail
4 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Brandy gets burned: China imposes up to 35pc tariffs on EU imports
BEIJING, July 4 — China said it will impose 'anti-dumping' taxes of up to 34.9 per cent on brandy imported from the European Union starting from tomorrow, 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 (EV) subsidies. It later said it had determined in a preliminary ruling that dumping had occurred and imposed 'temporary anti-dumping measures' on imports of the alcoholic beverage. And Beijing's commerce ministry said today 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,' the ministry 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,' it said. 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 per cent. Remy Martin will be hit with 34.3 per cent and Martell 27.7 per cent. The levies come as Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi has held fraught meetings with his counterparts during a tour of Europe this week. And they will likely be high on the agenda when he meets French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot this afternoon in Paris. Bitter taste A trade spat between Beijing and the bloc erupted last summer when the EU moved towards imposing hefty tariffs on EVs imported from China, arguing that Beijing's subsidies were unfairly undercutting European competitors. Beijing denied that claim and announced what were widely seen as retaliatory probes into imported European pork, brandy and dairy products. The EU imposed extra import taxes of up to 35 per cent on Chinese EV imports last October. Beijing later lodged a complaint with the World Trade Organization, which said in April that it would set up an expert panel to assess the EU's decision. China is a major market for French cognac, with exports worth €1.4 billion (RM7 billion) per year. The anti-dumping measures are costing the industry €50 million per month. China and the EU are scheduled to hold a summit this month to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties. But the festivities come at a time of strained relations, with the trade tensions compounded by Beijing's position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which Brussels says shows tacit support for Moscow. Bloomberg News reported today, citing unnamed sources, that Beijing intends to cancel the second day of the summit. — AFP
