China’s Proposal to End Tariffs on Australian Wine Signals Potential Trade Resolution

Bloomberg reported on the 12th that China has announced a temporary proposal related to the extermination of retaliatory tariffs on Australian wine.

Treasury Wine Estates, a global wine company in Australia, announced through a stock exchange disclosure on the day that “a final decision will be made within a few weeks.”

Don Farrell, Australia’s Minister of Trade, expressed his welcome in a statement, saying, “It legitimizes the government’s approach to resolving trade issues through dialogue rather than disputes.”

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said, “We will continue to push for expulsion of all remaining trade barriers.”

Earlier, the Chinese Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, stated, “The review on wine tariffs is moving in the right direction along the right track.”

The abolition of wine retaliatory tariffs is expected to help the recovery of the Australian wine industry and end China’s punitive trade measures against Australia over the years.

China is a preeminent market for Australian wineries.

Alex Xu, a director of Australian wine exporter Royal Star Wine, said, “We exported the equivalent of 150 containers of wine annually before the trade issue”, and added, “Now we export the equivalent of 10 containers to places like Vietnam, Cambodia, and India, but they are not as profitable as the Chinese market”.

From March 2021, China imposed up to 218% anti-dumping tariffs on Australian wine.

This was in retaliation for Australia’s ban on China’s Huawei’s participation in the 5G network in 2018 and a call for an international investigation into the origin of COVID-19 in 2020.

During this period, the Chinese government imposed various restrictions on everything from Australian coal to beef and lobster. The Chinese government even recommended its citizens refrain from studying and traveling in Australia.

However, since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took office in 2019, China has been improving relations with Australia and lifting various restrictions.