In what appears to be positive news for the Australian wine industry, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has recently released an interim draft that proposed a lifting of tariffs on Australian wine imports.
China introduced tariffs of up to 220% on imports of Australian wine in 2021, a move widely seen as part of a range of trade sanctions against Australia in the wake of political tensions between the 2 countries.
The tariffs has ruined Australia’s US$1 billion wine trade to China, and left many wine producers with excess stock as they need to scramble to find alternative export markets for their products.
The Australian Grape & Wine association welcomed the interim decision, with its Chief Executive Lee McLean describing it as a positive step towards resuming trade. The interim draft decision comes after Australia and China both agreed to private discussions about the tariffs following an interim determination by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) last year following a complaint by Australia. The final decision is expected to be made within March 2024.
The move on wine tariffs followed a decision by the Chinese authorities to lift tariffs on imports of Australian barley last year following a review by the WTO. Trade restrictions on exports of Australian coal, timber and cotton have also been lifted in 2023 following an improvement in the Australia-China relationship. However, tariffs on lobster and beef exports are still in place.
Before the tariff, China was South Australia’s largest wine export market with 47% share.
