'We're being held hostage': French cognac industry angry over EU-China trade war

French brandy is at the heart of a commercial dispute between Beijing and Brussels over Chinese electric vehicles (EVs).

Transcript

00:00The wine-growing town of Cognac in southwestern France is at the epicenter of a trade war

00:08between China and the EU. Since mid-October, Beijing has imposed temporary anti-dumping

00:14measures for imports of European brandy. This comes after the EU Commission said it wants

00:20to impose heavy tariffs on electric vehicles coming from China. Anxiety and frustration

00:25against the French government are brewing among Cognac makers.

00:55France is expected to be the country most affected by this decision, with China importing

01:03as much as 99% of the spirit last year. That's about one billion euros in revenue. In addition

01:10to bad weather and harvest this year, Cognac makers fear this decision could threaten the

01:15future of their profession.

01:26European brandies such as Armagnac, Italian Grappa and all other grape spirits will also

01:35be overtaxed by China.