China Won't Impose Preliminary AD Duties on EU Brandy Imports

China won't impose provisional antidumping duties on imports of EU brandy even after determining European companies are dumping brandy in the Chinese market, the country’s commerce ministry announced Aug. 29, according to an unofficial translation. The ministry, which launched the AD probe in January, said its domestic brandy industry “was threatened with substantial damage” and that it found “there was a causal relationship between the dumping and the threat of substantial damage.” It added: “No temporary anti-dumping measures will be taken in this case.” The ministry is accepting public comments on its decision for 10 days.

The decision came about one week after Beijing launched an investigation on whether certain imported dairy products from the EU unfairly benefit from subsidies and should face additional duties (see 2408210025), and days after the ministry spoke with industry officials about possibly raising import duties on large-engine cars (see 2408230045).