EU deems China's duties on dairy products "unjustified"

China's duties on some dairy products from the European Union are "unjustified", Brussels said on Friday, after Beijing imposed duties of up to 11.7% for five years.

„We consider these measures to be unjustified and unjustifiable. We recognise that the duties imposed in the final decision are significantly lower than those proposed at the preliminary stage," said EU trade spokesman Olof Gill.

„However, we are firmly of the opinion that these investigations should not have been initiated in the first place as, in our assessment, the applications lacked sufficient evidence to justify the initiation of such a proceeding," he added.

O. Gill said the EU executive would now assess the consequences of the duties, but promised that Brussels would defend the interests of the dairy sector in line with international trade rules.

„We will look at what our options are going forward, including the possibility of taking action at the World Trade Organisation,

Beijing said on Thursday that it would impose „anti-subsidy duties“ after an investigation found that „certain dairy products from the EU were being subsidised to the serious detriment of China's dairy industry“.

The tariffs will apply from Friday and will range from 7.4 per cent to 11.7 per cent, compared to the 21.9-42.7 per cent tariffs China had imposed in December.

The tariffs apply to a wide range of products, including fresh and processed cheese, cottage cheese, blue cheese, and some milk and cream products, China's commerce ministry said.