Latest news with #GIDE
CTV News
2 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
EXCLUSIVE: French cognac makers offer China minimum import prices to fend off tariffs
China has imposed provisional tariffs of up to 39% on cognac imports. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young PARIS and LONDON — Negotiators representing French cognac producers suggested minimum prices for exports to China of between US$20 and around $300 per liter as an opening bid in talks aimed at ending a tariff stand-off with China, a document seen by Reuters shows. The minimum prices are part of efforts to avoid permanent tariffs of up to 39 per cent amid tense negotiations with China's commerce ministry, which has opened an anti-dumping investigation focused on the sector. They were sent to producers several weeks ago for their approval by a Paris-based law firm negotiating on the spirit makers' behalf. A spokesperson for the law firm, GIDE, declined to comment. The industry, grappling with falling sales and simultaneous tariff threats from the United States, its other key market, has been fighting to secure a deal with China since Beijing first threatened to levy the duties in January 2024. The move came amid a wider trade dispute with the European Union after it imposed tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles. A flurry of political meetings in Paris and technical discussions in Beijing last week raised hopes that a settlement of the trade spat was imminent. But the talks ended with no deal, leaving just weeks to go before a July 5 deadline for Beijing to wrap up its anti-dumping probe. Chinese authorities subsequently announced that the industry had made a voluntary 'price pledge' and it was reviewing its terms. The price list seen by Reuters included a 'minimum import price' for different bands of cognac defined by how long the spirit has been aged, ranging from two years for the cheapest 'Very Special' (VS) cognacs to the most expensive 'Extra Extra Old' (XXO), aged 14 years or more. Under the offer, VS cognac would have a minimum import price of 144.70 yuan ($20.16) per liter, while 'Very Superior Old Pale' (VSOP), aged for at least four years, would be priced at 177.92 yuan. High-end Extra Old (XO) would cost 526.52 yuan to import, with the XXO category, where prices reach thousands of dollars per bottle and more, costing at least 2,126.07 yuan ($296.16) per liter. France's BNIC industry body declined to comment on the prices, citing confidential negotiations. 'We keep waiting and hoping for a good outcome,' a BNIC spokesperson said. The prices in the document refer to the price paid for cognac by importers in China, with distributors, wholesalers, retailers and consumers paying more to buy it. Reuters was not able to determine current import prices across the sector, led by LVMH's Hennessy, Pernod Ricard's Martell and Remy Cointreau's Remy Martin. Hennessy's VS cognac currently sells to consumers for around $100 per liter on Tmall. Remy Martin's cheapest label meanwhile fetches around $110 to $350 for its XO cognac. TALKS ONGOING Chinese authorities have already imposed steep provisional duties on imports of European brandy - mostly made up of French cognac - in the dispute with the EU. Laurence Whyatt, analyst at Barclays, said it wasn't clear the industry had made a major concession in the price offer seen by Reuters. 'Import prices are usually a third to a half of the retail price, so the prices detailed appear commensurate to the existing import prices,' he said. However, the document seen by Reuters reflected the sector's opening offer and talks are ongoing. A source familiar with the discussions said after weeks of back and forth, the two sides seem potentially close to agreement, but another person said the talks were tough and the sector was being pushed to make a bad deal. A settlement with China, the most important export country by value for France's $3 billion cognac industry, that removes the duties would be a boon for the sector, whose growth prospects have been hurt by the tariff dispute. Reporting by Tassilo Hummel in Paris and Emma Rumney in London. Additional reporting by Laurie Chen in Beijing and Casey Hall in Shanghai; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Exclusive: French cognac makers offer China minimum import prices to fend off tariffs
PARIS/LONDON, June 12 (Reuters) - Negotiators representing French cognac producers suggested minimum prices for exports to China of between $20 and around $300 per litre as an opening bid in talks aimed at ending a tariff stand-off with China, a document seen by Reuters shows. The minimum prices are part of efforts to avoid permanent tariffs of up to 39% amid tense negotiations with China's commerce ministry, which has opened an anti-dumping investigation focused on the sector. They were sent to producers several weeks ago for their approval by a Paris-based law firm negotiating on the spirit makers' behalf. A spokesperson for the law firm, GIDE, declined to comment. The industry, grappling with falling sales and simultaneous tariff threats from the United States, its other key market, has been fighting to secure a deal with China since Beijing first threatened to levy the duties in January 2024. The move came amid a wider trade dispute with the European Union after it imposed tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles. A flurry of political meetings in Paris and technical discussions in Beijing last week raised hopes that a settlement of the trade spat was imminent. But the talks ended with no deal, leaving just weeks to go before a July 5 deadline for Beijing to wrap up its anti-dumping probe. Chinese authorities subsequently announced that the industry had made a voluntary "price pledge" and it was reviewing its terms. The price list seen by Reuters included a "minimum import price" for different bands of cognac defined by how long the spirit has been aged, ranging from two years for the cheapest "Very Special" (VS) cognacs to the most expensive "Extra Extra Old" (XXO), aged 14 years or more. Under the offer, VS cognac would have a minimum import price of 144.70 yuan ($20.16) per litre, while "Very Superior Old Pale" (VSOP), aged for at least four years, would be priced at 177.92 yuan. High-end "Extra Old" (XO) would cost 526.52 yuan to import, with the XXO category, where prices reach thousands of dollars per bottle and more, costing at least 2,126.07 yuan ($296.16) per litre. France's BNIC industry body declined to comment on the prices, citing confidential negotiations. "We keep waiting and hoping for a good outcome," a BNIC spokesperson said. The prices in the document refer to the price paid for cognac by importers in China, with distributors, wholesalers, retailers and consumers paying more to buy it. Reuters was not able to determine current import prices across the sector, led by LVMH's ( opens new tab Hennessy, Pernod Ricard's ( opens new tab Martell and Remy Cointreau's ( opens new tab Remy Martin. Hennessy's VS cognac currently sells to consumers for around $100 per litre on Tmall. Remy Martin's cheapest label meanwhile fetches around $110 to $350 for its XO cognac. Chinese authorities have already imposed steep provisional duties on imports of European brandy - mostly made up of French cognac - in the dispute with the EU. Laurence Whyatt, analyst at Barclays, said it wasn't clear the industry had made a major concession in the price offer seen by Reuters. "Import prices are usually a third to a half of the retail price, so the prices detailed appear commensurate to the existing import prices," he said. However, the document seen by Reuters reflected the sector's opening offer and talks are ongoing. A source familiar with the discussions said after weeks of back and forth, the two sides seem potentially close to agreement, but another person said the talks were tough and the sector was being pushed to make a bad deal. A settlement with China, the most important export country by value for France's $3 billion cognac industry, that removes the duties would be a boon for the sector, whose growth prospects have been hurt by the tariff dispute. ($1 = 7.1788 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Yahoo
New Defense Department experimentation series targets data integration
The Pentagon's Chief Data and AI Office has launched a new series of experiments focused on improving data integration to allow operators to take better advantage of new command-and-control capabilities. The office runs a regular experimentation event every 90 days called the Global Information Dominance Experiment, or GIDE, which is focused on taking capabilities designed to connect forces across domains and test them in an operational context. The events have been credited for helping the Defense Department turn a long-abstract concept called Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control into capabilities the military is now using in the field. Now, the Chief Data and AI Office, or CDAO, is spinning off a new string of more focused exercises called GIDE X that aim to tackle the integration issues that can keep operators from leveraging the capabilities that come from a larger GIDE event, according to Lindsey Sheppard, director of the office's Advanced Command and Control Accelerator. Sheppard said that while larger GIDEs function more as operational test demonstrations, the smaller events explore how the team can get after more discrete technical or systems integration issues that need to be resolved before conducting the larger experiments. That could involve integrating a sensor's data feeds or creating a path to pull readiness data from a platform, she said during a Hudson Institute event Monday in Washington, D.C. 'If I kind of map out those smaller integrations that have to occur between the larger GIDE, I can then use the GIDE to really focus on, 'How do I get the leave-behind capability for the users,'' Sheppard said. When CDAO started running GIDE exercises a few years ago, she said, it was 'a big surprise' to the Defense Department, which has traditionally focused on delivering complex new systems that take years to develop, rather than providing regular capability updates on shorter timelines. Now, operators get a batch of system improvements after every 90-day GIDE. They also are involved in the process for testing the updates on the same live networks they use on a regular basis — a factor that Sheppard said is key to sending out capability that works in the field. 'By operating on live networks, on live data, we ensure that capability will stay behind with the users,' she said.
