The tariffs, which range from 116% to 218%, were announced on Friday and occur after an investigation by the Chinese authorities found cases of “dumping and [market] damage. “They go into effect on Sunday.
Australian Grape & Wine chief executive Tony Battaglene told Bloomberg on Friday that the industry group is likely to recommend filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization. China was, until recently, the largest market for Australian wine exports.
Relations between Australia and China began to deteriorate last April, after Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus. A series of Australian exports – including timber, beef and some types of coal – soon began to find it difficult to enter the Chinese market.
Chinese investment in Australia plummeted to just over 1 billion Australian dollars ($ 763 million) in 2020, down 62% from the previous year, according to a report released earlier this month by the Investment Database in Australia from the National University of Australia.
Australia’s wine industry is at the center of the storm. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce imposed temporary tariffs of up to 212% on Australian wine imports in November, after an anti-dumping investigation.
The value of wine exports to China fell to almost zero in December, according to statistics from the industrial group Wine Australia.
– Laura He and Ben Westcott contributed reporting.