
Brussels – The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced on Monday that “provisional” customs duties on various European dairy products will be implemented on Tuesday, ranging from 21.9% to 42.7%.
The duties will specifically target fresh and processed cheeses, blue cheeses, as well as certain types of milk and cream, which Beijing claims receive subsidies that cause “substantial harm” to local Chinese competitors.
A spokesperson for the European Commission remarked that this development is “very negative” for EU-China relations.
François-Xavier Huard, CEO of the French National Federation of the Dairy Industry, described the situation as “a shock, a sledgehammer blow” in a statement to AFP.
This decision by the Chinese government follows an anti-subsidy investigation initiated in August 2024, at the behest of the Dairy Association of China.
Europeans, however, see this as a retaliatory action in response to the EU’s imposition of high customs duties on Chinese-manufactured electric vehicles. (22 December 2025)













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