China has made a preliminary determination that the EU is dumping pork and pork by-products into its market, causing “material injury” to the domestic industry, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced. The determination includes a “provisional anti-dumping measure” in the form of cash deposits. “Starting September 10, importers of the products under investigation shall, based on the margin determined for each company in this preliminary ruling, are to provide corresponding deposits,” the Ministry said. Pork producers who cooperated with the investigation were hit with a rate of deposit between 15.6% and 32.7%, in alignment with a margin of dumping calculated by the Ministry. For those who did not cooperate, a rate of 62.4% would be levied. A list provided by the Ministry showed Spanish producer Litera on the lower end of the range for cooperators, and Dutch group Vion on the higher end.
An official from the Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau said it is taking a “prudent and restrained” approach on the issue, pointing to the “cordial solution” reached between China and France on the cognac probe as an example to be followed. “Since 2025, China has not initiated any new investigations against the EU, and has issued final rulings in only two anti-dumping cases. In the brandy case, the investigating authority fully considered the appeals of EU companies and concluded the case through a price commitment agreement.” European Commission Trade Spokesman Olof Gill said the EU will study the details before deciding on its next step. “According to the Commission’s assessment, this investigation was based on questionable allegations and insufficient evidence, and thus was not in line with WTO rules for initiating an investigation,” he told the South China Morning Post. EU sources also said the EU will likely bring this case to the WTO.
“The EU lacks genuine strategic autonomy and often seeks to appease the United States, aligning with it to counter China,” said Wang Yiwei, Professor at Renmin University’s School of International Studies in Beijing. “As the EU continues to launch anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations against China, it is necessary for China to take corresponding countermeasures to safeguard its interests.” The investigation into European pork – first launched in June 2024 following an EU decision to raise tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles by up to 38% – was scheduled to wrap up after a year. In advance of the China-EU summit in July, however, China extended the deadline by another six months, a move widely interpreted as a goodwill gesture.
The European Union is China’s biggest source of imported pork, accounting for more than half the overseas supply shipped between 2020 and 2023, according to the China Animal Agriculture Association. Spanish companies are the biggest exporters, sending over 280,000 tons of pork and derivative products during the first half of 2025, with those from the Netherlands and Denmark are behind by a wide margin. China is the world’s largest pork consumer, the South China Morning Post reports.
