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The Chinese authorities claim that Australians sell wine at dumped prices in China. Therefore, there is now an increased tariff of between 107.1 percent and 212.1 percent, depending on the value of the wine.
The new tariffs apply from Saturday morning, says China’s Ministry of Commerce.
“The measure is temporary in duration and will be introduced in response to the extensive damage caused to China’s domestic wine industry,” the statement said.
The Chinese claim that the same wine is sold cheaper in China than in Australia. They believe the reason is large subsidies. This gives Australian wines an unfair advantage in China.
On the list of wine producing countries of the world, China is in the top 10. Behind Australia, but ahead of countries like Portugal, Greece and Austria, according to the Statista list.
40 percent of Australian wine production goes to China. Last year, the wine was exported there for NOK 8.5 billion, writes the AFP news agency.
Retaliation for crown examination
The Australian government is furious. Commerce Minister Simon Birmingham calls the additional tax unreasonable, unjustified and unfounded. He says the accusations are wrong.
Australians believe that the increase in wine taxes is pure revenge because they demanded an international investigation of the corona pandemic. They wanted to be clear about where the virus originated, how it could spread so quickly, and how the international community was handling it.
When Australia submitted the proposal for an independent investigation, it was supported by 122 countries.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has learned that the virus originated in China. The Chinese authorities are trying to question this.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has chosen not to give in to Chinese sanctions.
Photo: Issei Kato / Reuters
Wine, beef, barley and wood
The Australian government makes it clear that they want to fight for the wine industry. Now they are reporting the case to the World Trade Organization, WTO.
– The Australian government will defend the industry strongly. We will seize every opportunity available, says Agriculture Minister David Littleproud.
The increase in taxes on wine is just one of several sanctions China has introduced against Australia.
When the proposal for the international crown investigation came in, China halted parts of Australia’s meat imports.
Before the World Health Organization (WTO) meeting in May, punitive tariffs of 80 percent were introduced on barley. Wood, sugar and seafood exports are also affected.
Australia’s proposal for the scrutiny was slightly modified, including the EU. China is no longer specifically mentioned as a country of origin. Then there was less opposition from China.
Wine share price is falling
China is Australia’s largest trading partner. And Australian manufacturers are noticing the Chinese sanctions.
The share price of publicly traded Australian wine houses fell like a stone when the new wine tariff was known. The trade finally stopped, writes the AFP news agency.
In addition to the crown dispute, China must be dissatisfied with the restrictions imposed by the Australian government on who can have contact with Chinese authorities and companies.
This has been introduced to control Chinese investment in the country, especially in terms of infrastructure. The Chinese Huawei is excluded from the development of the next generation telecommunications network in Australia. This is also the case in several other western countries.
