PRESS RELEASE
25.09.2024
Chinese retaliation: the Armagnac and Cognac sectors call on the french government for a negotiated solution
The ongoing mutual procedures between the European Union against Chinese electric vehicles and China against Armagnac and Cognac have entered a critical phase. If Europe confirms the imposition of additional taxes in the coming days, it appears likely that China will respond by imposing import tariffs on Armagnac and Cognac, causing these sectors to quickly lose an essential and irreplaceable market in the short to medium term. The impact on the sectors and the affected regions will be immediate and devastating.
During a demonstration held in Cognac on September 17, representatives of the Armagnac and Cognac sectors once again alerted public authorities to the looming disaster.
During several meetings at Matignon and the Élysée, two very concrete demands were made by the representatives of our sectors:
1 | France must request the postponement of the European vote on Chinese vehicles, in order to allow time for negotiations.
2 | A negotiated solution that avoids the application of any tariffs on our products in China must be actively pursued by the European Commission, which must make proposals to this effect.
These requests were directly transmitted to the Prime Minister, whose visit to Cognac, to discuss the short-term action plan that should follow, has been mentioned.
Despite the ongoing harvest, our sectors remain fully mobilized on an issue in which they are being held hostage and upon which their future depends. They expect concrete and very swift responses.
