Ministry of Commerce: Temporary anti-subsidy measures will be implemented on imported dairy products from the European Union starting from December 23rd.

On December 22, the Ministry of Commerce announced that the investigating authorities have preliminarily determined that dairy products imported from the European Union are subsidized, causing substantial harm to the domestic dairy industry in China, and there is a causal relationship between the subsidies and the harm. Starting from December 23, 2025, temporary anti-subsidy measures will be imposed on imported dairy products from the European Union in the form of temporary anti-subsidy deposits. Based on the questionnaire information submitted by the European Commission and sampled companies, as well as on-site verification, the Ministry of Commerce has preliminarily determined that the sampled companies will be subject to a tax rate of 21.9%-42.7%, while other EU companies that cooperated with the investigation will be subject to a unified tax rate of 28.6%, and non-cooperative EU companies will be subject to a tax rate of 42.7%. The announcement stated that the preliminary ruling on the anti-subsidy investigation of imported dairy products from the EU was made based on the Anti-subsidy Regulations of the People's Republic of China. The investigation found that there are subsidies on the imported dairy products from the EU, causing substantial harm to the domestic dairy industry in China, and there is a causal relationship between the subsidies and the harm. The specific description of the products under investigation includes fresh cheese (including whey cheese) and curd, processed cheese (whether grated or powdered), blue-veined cheese and other textured cheeses produced by Roquefort and other bleu cheese makers, other cheeses not elsewhere specified, and milk and cream, concentrated or sweetened, with a fat content exceeding 10% by weight. The Ministry of Commerce recommended temporary anti-subsidy measures to the Tariff and Tax Committee of the State Council, and starting from December 23, 2025, temporary anti-subsidy measures will be implemented in the form of temporary anti-subsidy tax deposits on imported dairy products from the EU. Importers of the investigated products are required to provide temporary anti-subsidy tax deposits to the Chinese customs authorities based on the determined ad valorem subsidy rates of each company. Importers of the products are required to provide temporary anti-subsidy tax deposits to Chinese customs based on the determined ad valorem subsidy rates of each company, calculated as: temporary anti-subsidy tax deposit amount = customs-declared value of the imported goods temporary anti-subsidy tax deposit rate.