China will remove anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on Australian wine from 29 March, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday.
The tariffs of up to 218.4 per cent were first imposed in March 2021 for five years, along with a number of other trade barriers on Australian goods, when relations between the countries soured after Canberra demanded an investigation into the origin of COVID-19.
Relations have gradually improved since last year, leading China to begin lifting trade barriers on Australian goods from barley to coal. This has fuelled hopes that punitive tariffs on shipments to Australia’s main wine export market will soon be lifted. the commerce ministry said in a statement:
Given the situation in China’s wine market has changed, the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariff imposed on wine imported from Australia is no longer necessary.
Previously, Australian wines imported into China were subject to zero tariffs after signing a free trade agreement in 2015, giving them a 14 per cent tariff advantage over many other wine-producing countries.
Australian wine accounted for just 0.14 per cent of Chinese wine imports in the first half of 2023, compared with 27.46 per cent in 2020 before the duties were introduced, the commerce ministry said in a statement. the Australian government claimed:
We welcome this outcome, which comes at a critical time for the Australian wine industry. Since 2020, China’s duties on Australian wine effectively made it unviable for Australian producers to export bottled wine to that market. Australia’s wine exports to China were worth $1.1 billion in 2019.
Beijing began imposing tariffs on Australian products in 2020, prompting Canberra to complain to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). When tariffs were imposed on Australian wine in 2021, Canberra called on the WTO to act as an arbitrator in the dispute.
Through joint efforts by both sides, China and Australia have reached a consensus on the proper resolution of disputes at the WTO, He Yadong, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Commerce, told reporters on Thursday. The cancellation of the Chinese duties means Australia will drop the WTO proceedings, Australia said in a statement.
