In a statement, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce indicated that the Customs Tariff Commission decided to apply these taxes on European brandy packaged in containers of less than 200 liters.

The highest rates will be imposed on the French group Hennessy, which will face a tax of 34.9%. The Rémy Martin and Martell brands will be taxed at 34.3% and 27.7%, respectively.

The measure comes a day before the publication of the conclusions of the anti-dumping investigation conducted by Beijing into imports of European brandy – spirits distilled from wine, mainly cognac – which began in retaliation for the European investigation into Chinese state support for the electric vehicle industry.

China absorbs around a quarter of French cognac exports. The sector claims to be losing around 50 million euros a month due to these measures.

On a visit to China last week, the president of the French National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, expressed hope that the sanctions would be lifted “in the next few days”.

According to the French Federation of Wine and Spirits Exporters, the negotiations involved a price increase of between 12% and 16%, at a time when Beijing was considering increasing the tariffs by more than 30%.

Since last autumn, importers have been required to deposit an equivalent deposit with Chinese customs, as part of provisional measures imposed by Beijing.

Dumping consists of selling at a price lower than the production cost.