China has announced anti-dumping taxes of up to 19.8% on pork imports from the European Union, following an 18-month investigation. Effective on December 17, the duties – ranging from 4.9% to 19.8%, depending on the company – will be implemented for a period of five years, according to a notice issued by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). The rates in the final ruling are significantly lower than those included in a preliminary determination in September, when EU pork producers were hit with deposit rates of up to 62.4%. The duties will cover products including fresh, cold and frozen pork, as well as pork offal, pig fat without lean meat, pig intestines, bladders and stomachs, the Ministry said. Beijing launched the anti-dumping probe into European pork products in June last year, after the EU imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. MOFCOM said in a statement that the final ruling was issued against the backdrop of operational challenges in the domestic pork industry and strong calls for protection. “The ruling report indicates that the relevant pork and pork by-products imported from the EU were being dumped, causing substantive harm to China’s domestic industry,” the statement said.
The Ministry provided a list with its final ruling, showing Spanish producer Litera on the lower end of the range of duties, at 4.9%. Dutch group Vion was on the higher end, at 19.8%. Pork was on the agenda during various high-level European visits to China this year. Manuel Garcia, President of Spanish pork industry association Interporc, accompanied Spain’s King Felipe VI on his visit to China in November, and told the King that China’s anti-dumping investigation was a top concern for the industry. French industry leaders also went to China with French President Emmanuel Macron in December, when both sides signed a joint declaration pledging to open up the Chinese market to more French agricultural products.
Spain’s Agricultural Minister Luis Planas praised the “favorable outcome” it received from the investigation. Spanish companies received an average rate of 9.8%, putting them on the lower end of the spectrum and giving Spanish producers a “much more advantageous commercial position,” he said in a post on X. European Commission Trade Spokesman Olof Gill said that the investigation was based on “questionable allegations and insufficient evidence” and that Brussels is assessing whether the tariffs violate World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.
China is the world’s largest pork consumer. The country eats some 700 million hogs each year – equivalent to about half of the global total. The EU is China’s largest import source for pork and pork products, accounting for about 54% of total imports between 2020 and 2023, the China Animal Agriculture Association said in its anti-dumping application. Spain exported the most pork and derivative products to China during the first half of 2025, followed by producers from the Netherlands and Denmark, the China Daily and South China Morning Post report.
China has released the determination of its safeguard investigation into imported beef and will implement country-specific tariff-rate quotas on beef imports for a period of three years from January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2028. The additional tariffs will be imposed on imported beef exceeding the specified quantity, at a rate of 55% on top of the current applicable tariff rates. China's beef imports have surged, rising by 73.2% from 2019 to 2024. Import prices are significantly lower than those of domestically produced beef. Import quotas will vary by country and increase marginally annually over the three-year period.
