Meat sector fights in China against import duties

A delegation from the Dutch meat sector visited China last week. The goal was to discuss the imposed import duties on pork. Next week, a hearing will take place in China where the tariffs will be discussed. China announced at the beginning of September that it would impose import duties on pork from the European Union. This was the outcome of the anti-dumping investigation that has been ongoing for some time. Various European slaughterhouses are facing a duty of as much as 62.4%. For imported meat from the Vion locations in Boxtel, Groenlo, and Apeldoorn, a rate of 32.7% has been in effect since September 10. Westfort, Compaxo, and Van Rooi Meat are also on the list and will be subject to tariffs of 20%. Discussions Last week, a delegation from the Central Organization for the Meat Sector (COV) with representatives from the involved slaughterhouses visited China to raise concerns about these import duties. The industry organization, through its chairperson Manon Houben, stated that discussions took place with various parties, where mutual appreciation was expressed for the collaboration in recent years. COV has indicated that there is no dumping in the Chinese market, said Houben. The chairperson also mentioned that efforts were made to find ways to reduce the duties. Next week, an official hearing will take place in China, during which the arguments from the COV will be presented. The COV expects that the final duties will be clarified by December 16. The duties imposed at the beginning of September were initially temporary. Large market For the Dutch pig sector, the duties represent a tough blow. China is an important export market for by-products, and partly due to the tariffs, pig prices have dropped significantly this autumn. In the first eight months of this year, the Netherlands sold over 128,000 tons of pork (including by-products) to China. Whether export volumes have declined since September has not yet been substantiated by statistics. Slaughterhouses indicate that they have since realized lower sales volumes.