China could be looking to impose tariffs on pork imports from Europe, in a move that signals possible retaliation against recent European Union tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs). 

On June 12, the EU announced new tariffs of up to 38% on Chinese EVs, in the wake of a lengthy investigation into whether subsidies from the Chinese government had allowed the country to undercut the EU market with a flood of lower-priced battery EVs. Five days later, China's minister of commerce Wang Wentao said that they had opened their own anti-dumping investigation over imported EU pork products, The New York Times reports. 

Europe exported more than €2.5 billion ($2.7 billion) worth of pork into China in 2023, according to EU customs data. Moving forward, European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill told the Times that they will be following China's investigation "very closely," and that they will "intervene as appropriate" to make sure the proceedings align with World Trade Organization rules. 

China already has an open probe dating back to January into cognac imported from the EU, according to Reuters. The country also previously threatened to impose a 25% tax on European cars prior to the announcement of the new EV tariffs.