China imposes further duties on Aussie wine

CHINA on December 10 said it had imposed fresh import duties on Australian wine as it accused Canberra of giving its firms subsidies, in the latest salvo in a bitter stand-off following last month’s swingeing anti-dumping tariffs.

The move comes as relations between both countries continue to sour after Australia called earlier this year for an inquiry into the origins of the Covid-19 outbreak, which emerged in China.

The anti-subsidy tariffs of 6.3-6.4 per cent will kick in on December 11 and come on top of November’s anti-dumping levies of 107-212 per cent.

China’s commerce ministry said the move followed a probe announced late in August.

It said: “The investigation authority has preliminarily determined that there are subsidies for imported wines originating in Australia, and [China’s] domestic wine industry has suffered substantive damage.”

The ministry has complained that Australian winemakers benefit from government subsidies that give them an advantage over Chinese firms.

But Australia’s trade minister called last month’s measures “grossly unfair, unwarranted, unjustified”.

Australian winemakers have warned that last month’s tariffs would likely mean the lucrative Chinese market would dry up.

Treasury Wine Estates – which produces the popular high-end Penfolds brand – said it would look to other “key luxury growth markets” and cut costs as sales accounting for 30 per cent of earnings fall away.

Australia-China relations have spiralled this year, with Beijing producing a laundry list of complaints about Australian policies, including its ban on Huawei’s participation in building 5G networks in the country.

Beijing also suspended beef imports from four Australian slaughterhouses in May and hit barley shipments from the country with tariffs.