French PM Bayrou to go to China to seek progress in cognac trade dispute, Macron says

French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that new Prime Minister Francois Bayrou will travel to China to try to make progress in a trade dispute that threatens cognac sales.

Macron, speaking at an annual conference before French ambassadors, did not say when the trip would take place.
The European Union imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles of up to 45% in October. Beijing fired back days later with tariffs on brandy imports, which many saw as targeting France, a major supporter of Chinese tariffs on electric vehicles.

In particular, Beijing has required EU brandy importers to pay deposits ranging between 30% and 40%, which has affected French companies such as Hennessy, Pernod Ricard and Remy Cointreau.

Former French Prime Minister Michel Barnier was expected to travel to China earlier this year to make progress in the dispute, but his government fell in December after failing to find enough support for a budget aimed at reining in a wide deficit.