China said on Friday it would expand the scope of its anti-subsidy investigation into dairy imports from the European Union to cover additional EU subsidy programmes as well as those in Denmark, France, Italy and the Netherlands.
The world’s second-largest economy launched the investigation into imports of some cheese, milk and cream from the EU in August, following the bloc’s tariff plan for China-made electric vehicles.
New EU tariffs of up to 45.3 per cent on Chinese EV imports took effect on October 30, with China urging some governments of EU nations to nudge the European Commission towards a solution acceptable to the electric vehicle industries of both sides.
On Friday, China’s commerce ministry said it decided to include questions about the additional subsidy programmes in questionnaires sent to EU firms as part of its investigation, following an application from the Chinese dairy industry.
The addition does not include new dairy products and takes into account the claims made by EU members and consultations with EU representatives, it said in a statement.
“On November 19, the investigating authorities held consultations with EU representatives regarding the new programs to be added,” it said.
The European Union was China’s second-largest source of dairy products, behind only New Zealand, Chinese customs data shows.
China was the second-largest destination for skimmed milk powder last year and the fourth for both butter and whole milk powder, EU data showed.
