China on Tuesday sharply reduced tariffs on European Union pork imports worth over $2 billion in the final ruling of an anti-dumping investigation seen as a response to the bloc’s duties on Chinese electric vehicles.
Some from the European pork industry voiced relief at the decision though they said the tariffs would still hurt. The European Commission expressed concern, pledging to defend exporters.
China will impose tariffs of between 4.9% and 19.8% on pork imports from the bloc for a five-year period starting on Wednesday, well below the 15.6%-62.4% imposed in a preliminary decision in September, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
Importers will receive a refund on the difference between the rates paid since September.
The decision is a partial reprieve for European producers who depend heavily on the Chinese market, especially for the offal - such as pig ears and feet - rarely eaten elsewhere.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION TO ASSESS WTO COMPLIANCE
China’s anti-dumping investigation began in June of last year and has affected major pork exporters such as Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark.
China imported $4.8 billion worth of pork, including offal, in 2024 - over half of it from the EU, with Spain leading the bloc in exports by volume.
China accounted for 17.6% of EU pork exports last year, the second highest behind the UK, which imported a 29.7% share, according to Spanish government data.
In a statement on Tuesday, the European Commission described China’s investigation as “based on questionable allegations and insufficient evidence”.
It vowed to defend EU farmers and exporters against what it called Beijing’s “abusive use of trade defence instruments” and said it was “carefully assessing all the information available against compliance with WTO rules”.
SIGN OF CONSTRUCTIVE NEGOTIATIONS
China’s commerce ministry did not say why it chose to lower rates, though China said last week talks had resumed with the bloc over electric vehicle tariffs. French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish King Felipe have both visited Beijing in the last two months.
Spanish regional leaders met China’s ambassador in recent weeks to ask for lower tariffs, citing Spain’s openness to Beijing’s investment in the automotive sector, a Spanish regional government source told Reuters.
“This outcome reflects 18 months of concerted efforts to find a negotiated solution to this issue and a number of other trade disputes between China and the EU,” said Even Rogers Pay, a director at Beijing-based consultancy Trivium China.
China also has an anti-subsidy investigation into European Union dairy exports that is due to report next February and has already imposed tariffs on EU brandy.
MIXED FEELINGS FOR EUROPEAN PRODUCERS
Previously, major exporters to China such as the EU and Brazil were subject to “most-favoured nation” tariffs of around 12% for many pork products. The anti-dumping duties come on top of these. U.S. pork is subject to substantially higher tariffs.
Most Spanish firms are now subject to a relatively moderate tariff of 9.8%. Spain’s Litera Meat got the lowest rate, at only 4.9%.
Giuseppe Aloisio, head of Spanish industry group Anice, said he expected talks to continue, as the duties would hurt company margins.
“China is applying tariffs on a company-by-company basis, but in doing so, it’s dividing European economic policy and treating us as individual countries,” said Nemesio Sanchez, an international trade consultant specialising in Iberico pork.
In France, Anne Richard, director of pork industry association Inaporc, said: “There’s a sense of relief as all our abattoirs that export have been recognised as cooperating and have been granted a rate of 9.8%.”
“Having said that, we can’t exactly rejoice at the prospect of a tax.”
CHINA’S STRUGGLING PIG SECTOR
Home to half the world’s pigs, China’s massive hog sector is grappling with a supply glut amid weak consumer demand. Chinese pork prices have been falling throughout 2025 and are expected to continue their decline.
Even at the lower rate, the duties could slightly ease food price deflation by raising imported pork prices, Pay said.
“High-end markets for imported speciality pork products may weather these tariff rates, but they will eat away at more price-sensitive segments. That will benefit Chinese pig farming companies which have reckoned with low prices for pork all year,” she added.
(Reporting by Daphne Zhang, Ella Cao and Lewis Jackson in Beijing, Gus Trompiz in Paris, Emma Pinedo, David Latona and Corina Pons in Madrid, Soren Sirich Jeppesen in Copenhagen, Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels; Editing by Tom Hogue, Aidan Lewis)
