NEWS
AUSSIE TRADE MINISTER EXPECTED WINE DISPUTE WITH CHINA TO END IN A FEW WEEKS
By Tony Zhu
27-2-2024
Source: Don Farrell/Facebook
Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell said today the trade dispute with China over wine exports can soon be resolved, raising hopes that the punitive tariffs imposed on Australian wines by China can be lifted in “a few weeks’ time”.
In an interview with Australian broadcaster ABC today, Farrell said he has spoken with China Commerce Minster Wang Wentao on Monday, and the two sides were close to an agreement.
"I am confident that the discussions I had yesterday with the commerce minister will result in them carrying through on what they undertook, which was to expedite the review of the tariffs and that we will get a result on that in a few weeks' time."
China has imposed punitive tariffs of up to 218 percent on wine imports from Australia since 28 March 2021. The measures were supposed to last for five years.
Three years into the sanctions, Australian wine exports to China had shrunk from AUD1.2 billion to just AUD8.1 million in the first half of last year.
As ties between China and Australia improved under the Albanese government, China’s commerce ministry announced a review into the punitive measures on Australian wines in December last year.
The ministry said the review should end by 30 November 2024, but the Australian government said that it expected the review to take five months.
In 2019, Australia was the biggest supplier of imported wines to China, accounting for 35.54 percent of market share.
But in 2022, it has dropped out of the top 10, and had lost those sales to wines from France, Chile and Italy.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
**IF YOU THINK THE WINE CHRONICLE IS WORTH SUPPORTING, PLEASE MAKE A DONATION TO HELP US IMPROVE AND CONTINUE OUR WORK**
TRENDING│ FOCUS│ MISSION│ ABOUT US│ CONTACT
| 