China has imposed temporary anti-dumping measures on brandy imports from the European Union (EU), hitting brands from Hennessy to Remy Martin.

The Commerce Ministry said on Tuesday that an investigation has preliminarily determined that dumping of brandy, or the act of exporting goods to a foreign market at a low price, from the EU is threatening the nation's own brandy sector with "substantial damage".

It added that as of October 11, importers of brandy originating in the EU will have to put down security deposits, mostly ranging from 34.8 percent to 39 percent of the import value.

France, which supported tariffs on mainland-made electric vehicles (EVs), accounted for 99 percent of China's brandy imports last year, with brandy shipments from the country reaching US$1.7 billion.

Hennessy and Remy Martin were among the brands worst-hit, with importers having to pay security deposits of 39 and 38.1 percent, respectively.

The measures came on the heels of the EU's move to adopt tariffs on China-made EVs by the end of October.

In that decision, the bloc set tariff rates ranging from 7.8 percent for Tesla to 35.3 percent for SAIC and other producers deemed not to have cooperated with the EU's anti-subsidy investigation. These will come on top of the EU's standard 10 percent car import duty.

Beijing called the tariffs protectionist and a violation of World Trade Organisation regulations.

The European Commission has said it's willing to continue negotiating an alternative, even after tariffs are imposed. (Reuters)