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AUSSIE WINE SECTOR BANKS ON TRADE MINISTER’S CHINA VISIT TO SAVE CURRENT VINTAGE

By Siulan Law Mathews DipWSET

6-2-2023



Source: Don Farrell/Facebook

Australia’s Trade Minister Don Farrell has accepted invitation from his Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao to visit China in the near future during a video meeting held today, the first bi-lateral meeting between trade minsters of the two countries since 2019.

Farrell said after the meeting that he and Wang had agreed to enhance dialogue at all levels as a pathway “towards the timely and full resumption of trade,” but he has yet to confirm on a date of his China visit.

Australian exporters are hoping that the trade minister’s visit will lead to China lifting barriers that blocked exports of wine, barley, beef, coal, copper, cotton, seafood, sugar and timber that cost them AUD14 billion (USD9.7b) a year.

The country’s wine industry is particularly hoping for an early indication as they will have to decide whether to leave their grapes unpicked for a second year when harvest begins next month.

Wine Australia director and managing director of Taylors Wines Mitchell Taylor told local media earlier that hard decisions would need to be made when picking started.

Taylor said a meeting between the trade minister and his counterpart could not come soon enough, given vintage was set to start next month.

"The more we can get an early indication about how these talks eventuate, the better off it will be for the long-term prospects of some of the investments that we have," he told Australian media.

Before punitive tariffs were imposed on Australian wines, China was the largest export market for the sector, with sales passing AUD1.2b a year.

Many wine grape growers expected demand to continue to rise and planned accordingly and there came the punitive tariffs.

"We've got great oversupply hitting the industry because it takes a lot of time to plan these markets and then to make the wines, particularly red wines, which the Chinese love.”

Taylor said a lot of growers will have to leave grapes on the vine this vintage if news of a return of China wine exports does not come early enough.

(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)

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