Irish producers face levies as China announces tariffs on EU pork 

Beijing will impose anti-dumping levies ranging from 4.9% to 19.8% on meat

China set final import tariffs on European Union pork at significantly lower levels than initially announced in September. Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto

China set final import tariffs on European Union pork at significantly lower levels than initially announced in September.

Beijing will impose anti-dumping levies ranging from 4.9% to 19.8% on EU meat, China's ministry of commerce said on Tuesday in a statement, in what is seen as part of a wider trade dispute after the EU imposed tariffs on electric vehicles from China.

Preliminary duties set in September had been as high as 62.4%.

In 2024, Ireland exported approximately 61,482 tonnes of pigmeat to China valued at €99.90m.

The European Commission said it is "examining the provisional definitive duties announced and is carefully assessing all the information available against compliance with WTO rules".  

The tariffs, which take effect on Wednesday and will remain in place for five years, were finalised after Beijing determined that the EU had been dumping certain pork and pig by-products, and that substantial harm had been caused to China’s domestic industry, according to the statement.

“Technically, this final ruling is an improvement compared with the preliminary tariff rates, but these definitive rates will continue to add costs to European pork exports for five years,” said Eva Gocsik, global strategist for animal protein at Rabobank. “Some processors will remain disproportionately affected. The European pork sector is set for a challenging year.”

China has been struggling with oversupply of pork and sluggish consumption due to a sustained economic downturn. Even at lower levels, the levies are another blow to beleaguered European hog farmers, who are contending with slowing demand and fallout from disease outbreaks.

Major pork exporter Danish Crown A/S and some units of Vion Food Group will face duties of 18.6% and 19.8%, respectively, which is less than the provisional rates. They didn’t immediately respond to requests for comments.

Other companies will also see reduced tariffs, according to the final ruling.

China launched an anti-dumping probe into shipments from the bloc last June, part of a series of countermeasures to Brussels’ investigations into Chinese subsidies across a range of industries. In early October, the EU voted to impose tariffs as high as 45% on electric vehicles from the Asian nation.

Bloomberg