DII: Chinese dairy tariffs 'will make our products uncompetitive'
Dairy Industry Ireland (DII) has warned that newly revised tariffs on EU dairy exports to China, namely cream and cheese, will make EU and Irish products uncompetitive in the Chinese market.
The warning comes after the European Commission told representatives of the EU dairy industry that China will set revised tariffs on a wide range of cream and cheese products it imports from Europe.
Although these tariffs are reduced from provisional tariffs announced before Christmas, they have nonetheless prompted concern within the EU dairy sector.
DII said it is disappointed with the confirmation of tariffs, and the fact that the Chinese announcement does not reduce tariffs to previous levels, before China started investigating what it calls "subsidies" for EU dairy production.
The tariffs that have been now announced by China on EU cream and cheese will be between 7.4% and 11.7%, which varies by exporting business.
Conor Mulvihill, director of DII, said: "While the revisions represent an improvement on the announcement made before Christmas, these tariffs still make our products uncompetitive in the Chinese market.
"We are competing with imports from other countries that face no such tariffs, which means these new rates still place Irish and EU dairy at a significant disadvantage.
"Although this disruption is unwelcome, and China remains an important market for both EU and Irish dairy, we acknowledge that the latest decision did not expand tariffs to other dairy categories," Mulvihill added.
The DII director said that this is "at least one positive element in an otherwise difficult situation".
"It remains very frustrating that dairy appears to be used as a political pawn in a wider dispute between the European Union and China relating to electric vehicles.
"The European Union is likely to bring this matter to the World Trade Organization [WTO] but we continue to urge active engagement between both sides to reduce tensions and prevent further escalation," Mulvihill said.
"This dispute is unnecessary and damaging to a sector that has no link to the issue at hand," he added.
Dairy Industry Ireland will work with partners in the European Dairy Association on this issue. Irish dairy remains well diversified in its product mix and in the range of countries it supplies. This will help cushion the impact of the decision," the DII director said.
