French foreign minister plans visit to China, says tariff-hit cognac lobby

PARIS (Reuters) - France's foreign minister is planning a two-day visit to China on March 27 and 28, the head of cognac lobby group BNIC said on Wednesday, repeating calls for an easing of trade tensions between the European Union and Beijing.

France's cognac industry has been caught up in two distinct international trade disputes - one between the EU and China and another pitting the bloc against U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.

"We are taken hostage in this trade dispute", Florent Morillon, who heads BNIC, told a news conference, adding that China-bound exports have fallen by 60% over the past four months.

A French diplomatic source confirmed that Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot will travel to Asia next week, stopping in Indonesia and Singapore before visiting China.

The United States and China represent the two most important markets for French cognac and account for 70% of overall sales, Morillon said, warning that the industry was fighting for its survival.

"This means 70% of the jobs and the ecosystem in the region would be annihilated" if solutions to the disputes are not found, said Morillon, who also works for LVMH-owned Hennessy, France's biggest cognac producer.

China imposed temporary anti-dumping measures on imports of brandy from the EU after the 27-state bloc voted for tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs), heavily hitting sales of cognac, a high-end brandy produced in western France.

Without a resolution of the trade row, these measures could become definitive next month, BNIC representatives said.

Separately, President Trump last week threatened to slap a 200% tariff on wine, cognac and other alcohol imports from Europe.

"200% would mean we won't sell one single bottle in the United States," Morillon said. Cognac exports to the country last year amounted to around 1 billion euros ($1.09 billion), the BNIC said on Wednesday.

($1 = 0.9173 euros)

(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel, additional reporting by John Irish, Editing by Dominique Vidalon and Joe Bavier)