(Feb 12): China set final import tariffs on some dairy products from the European Union well below preliminary rates outlined late last year, in the latest sign of stabilising trade ties between Beijing and Brussels.
The duties — set at as much as 11.7% following an anti-subsidy investigation — apply to goods including fresh and processed cheese and will take effect from Friday, China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday. That compares with initial duties, collected in the form of deposits, of as much as 43% that were announced in December.
There have been efforts to deepen economic cooperation between the two sides following a leaders summit in July, including a recent visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to China. Earlier this week, the EU moved to exempt one of Volkswagen AG’s China-built electric vehicles from hefty import duties, the first car to get approval under a new mechanism aimed at thawing tensions.
Beijing launched the probe into Europe’s dairy sector in 2024 amid a tit-for-tat trade dispute with the bloc, which also swept up other food products, including meat and brandy. The final import tariff rates set on pork — announced in December — also came in significantly lower than initial levels.
“China is willing to maintain dialogue with the European side to create an open, stable market environment for Chinese and European industries,” Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong said on Thursday, praising a “soft landing” of tariff disputes over Chinese-made EVs.
China was the EU’s ninth-largest export market for cheese in 2025, according to government figures through September. Sales totaled 20,765 tons in that period, about 12% below the prior year.
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European cheese and cream exports to China “face a very competitive market with other exporting countries,” particularly those that benefit from free-trade agreements, said Alexander Anton, secretary general at trade group Euromilk.
Those concerns were echoed by Thijs Geijer, a senior food and agriculture economist at ING.
“Final tariffs are lower, but market access remains a concern,” he said. “China has long been considered a growth market for EU dairy exporters, but export volumes of products like cheese were already under pressure before tariffs kicked in.”
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