Lithuania reappears on China's customs systems, unclear for how long – body

  • 2021-12-07
  • BNS/TBT Staff

VILNUS – Lithuania reappeared on China's customs systems on Tuesday morning but it’s unclear for how long, Ricardas Sartatavicius, managing director at the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists, says.

"Yes, it is, but it's unclear for how long and whether nothing will change. We don’t know. This is information from our companies," Sartatavicius told BNS, adding that the European Commission's effort might have probably had impact on that.

He hears from businesses, however, that the Chinese are putting pressure on Lithuania's foreign partners and are also slowing orders for Lithuanian importers.

For example, one clothing producer producing for a French company said the Chinese decided to no longer buy from that company as its goods are produced in Lithuania.

"The French say resolve this issue or we will be looking for other producers. It might affect a number of our clothing and textile association members," Sartatavicius said.

"In another case, which happened yesterday, one chemical company that's been buying electronic goods from China for a number of years was notified by one of its suppliers that they would no longer accept their orders," Sartatavicius told BNS.

It was reported last Thursday that Lithuanian businesses had been unable to have their goods in China customs-cleared as the latter removed Lithuania from its customs systems as of December.

China has been angered lately by Lithuania's deepening ties with Taiwan and the recent opening of a Taiwanese representative office in Vilnius.