French President Emmanuel Macron plans to send his Prime Minister Michel Barnier to China to force Beijing to drop duties on French cognac and other European brandies, POLITICO reports.
Macron made the announcement after meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Tuesday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro. The French president said the two leaders had agreed to seek a “favourable outcome” on the issue of duties on cognac.
The potential breakthrough came as China and the European Union are on the brink of a multilateral trade war. The spat began when Brussels accused Beijing of flooding Europe with subsidised Chinese electric cars, which it believes are unfairly inferior to European EVs.
After an initial investigation, the EU imposed tariffs on Chinese electric cars, to which China responded by imposing duties on imports of European brandy, accusing the industry of dumping – selling goods cheaper than the cost of production to disadvantage local competitors. Both industry groups and French officials have denied the dumping allegations.
The move is mainly aimed at French luxury cognac brands, as Paris was seen as a major supporter of the EV investigation. France has been one of Europe’s fiercest critics of heavily subsidised Chinese goods flooding the single market and the barriers European companies face in entering Chinese markets.
Macron said France and China intend to launch a “technical process” but did not go into details of what it entails. However, once that process is finalised, Barnier will travel to China for talks with Prime Minister Li Qiang.
The French leader added that France would push for greater “strategic autonomy” within the EU, meaning a Europe that protects its economic security and shields itself from unfair trade practices. Macron said during his opening statements at his bilateral meeting with Xi:
“We would like our partners to show the same openness as the European Union. You know how committed we are on this point.”
In May, media reported that Macron presented Chinese President Xi Jinping with a French cognac as a gift during the Chinese leader’s visit to France.
Macron made such a gesture, including as a thank you for the Chinese leader’s decision not to impose duties on French cognac until the end of the anti-dumping investigation conducted by the Chinese authorities.
