Chinese regulators announced on Friday that they would begin imposing heavy duties on Australian wines after finding preliminary evidence of dumping.
From Saturday, China will begin to temporarily slap Australian liquor imports from 107.1% to 212.1%, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement.
The move is another bottleneck for Australian businesses as relations between Canberra and Beijing continue to deteriorate.
China Announced An anti-subsidy investigation of some Australian wine imports in August following a complaint by the China Wine Industry Association. Regulators at the time said they would investigate 40 allegations of unfair government subsidies in the Australian wine sector.
The Ministry of Commerce says it has confirmed cases of dumping due to “material loss” to the domestic liquor industry in China.
The effects of the new measures can be devastating. According to the trade organization Wine Australia, China is by far the largest importer of Australian wine with the help of Government of the country.
In the most recent financial year, which ended this September, mainland China made up 39% of Australia’s total wine exports by value alone, the group What was said.
But australia disturbed China is calling for an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus virus this year. Beijing later targeted Canberra over trade, namely by suspending some imports of beef and slapping heavy tariffs on barley.
In August, Australia Effectively blocked The sale of the dairy business to a Chinese company when an official said the acquisition would be “contrary to national interest.” That business, Lion Dairy, is Now sold The companies announced this week, instead of Australian firm Bega Cheese, in a deal worth 560 million Australian dollars ($ 413 million).
The latest news may be surprising to some, given that both Australia and China signed on last week Major trade deal Which is called Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Some people have suggested that the agreement could help rebuild the relationship between the two countries.
China has recently acknowledged a deviated relationship – but clarified where it thinks the finger should be pointed. Last week, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman What was said Australia should blame the “rapid slowdown” in relations between the two countries.
Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said in a news briefing, “China has absolutely no responsibility for creating this situation.”
“[They] The latter has taken a series of wrong moves related to China, the root cause of the Sino-Australia relationship, with sharp deterioration and the current difficult situation. “
