Authorities in Beijing announced the imposition of provisional duties on some dairy imports from the European Union. The tariffs, which range from 21.9% to 42.7%, will be levied from 23 December.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said the relevant dairy products specifically include fresh cheese and curd, processed cheese, blue cheese, and milk and cream that are not concentrated.

The ministry also produced a list of tariff rates for individual EU companies, with all of those cited as “cooperating with the investigation” subject to a rate of 28.6%.

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This list includes Kerry Ingredients & Flavours Ltd. and Tirlán’s Kilkenny cheese joint-venture partner Royal A-Ware Food Group.

The only named company on the list to be hit with the highest tariff rate of 42.7% is FrieslandCampina.

Any company not included on the list is also subject to the 42.7% rate.

As there are no Irish co-ops listed, any exports from those businesses would be hit with the highest rate. However, Irish cheese exports to China are tiny. According to Bord Bia data, Ireland exported 500 tonnes of cheese to the country in the 12 months to the end of October 2025. That accounted for just over one-tenth of one percent of Irish cheese exports during the period.

The duties announced are the preliminary ruling on the investigation into subsidised EU dairy exports which began in August 2024. That investigation arose amid rising trade tensions between China and EU centred on electric vehicle exports.

Last week China announced a final ruling on its investigation into pork imports from the EU which saw the final tariff rates reduced significantly from those announced in the preliminary findings of that investigation, which were published on 10 September.

Today’s announcement on dairy imports is a preliminary one, so there is every chance the level of tariffs will be reduced when the investigation is finalised in the coming months.