The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has said in a statement today that it is imposing anti-dumping tariffs on Australian wine.
The tariffs will take effect from tomorrow, November 28, and will range from 107.1 per cent to 212.1 per cent, the statement said.
The Chief Executive of Australian Wine and Grape Incorporated, Tony Battaglene, told The Shout: “We are disappointed and surprised with the imposition of interim tariffs.
“We don’t understand how the Ministry of Commerce has come to the conclusion that the Australian wine industry has been dumping wine on the Chinese market. The numbers simply do not add up.”
The tariffs have been imposed just three months after China’s Ministry of Commerce said it was starting an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation into Australian wine.
After the announcement was made the Treasury Wine Estates share price plunged by more than 11 per cent on the Australian Stock Exchange, before being place in a trading halt, pending an announcement from the company.
Last month the Wine Australia Export Report showed that for the 12 months to the end of September 2020, Mainland China was the leading export market for Australian wine.
Exports to mainland China increased by four per cent in value to $1.17bn and decreased by 12 per cent in volume to 123 million litres (13.7 million 9-litre case equivalents).
Average value increased by 18 per cent to $9.54 per litre FOB. Higher-priced exports recorded exceptional growth, especially at $30 or more per litre. Almost two-thirds of Australia’s exports to mainland China are priced at $10 or more per litre.
According to the South China Morning Post, documents lodged with China’s commerce ministry said that the Chinese wine industry had asked for 202.7 per cent duties to cover losses due to what they claimed to be cheap Australian wine flooding the local market between 2015 and 2019.
China has unofficially banned Australian imports of barley, coal, copper, lobsters, log timber, sugar and wine since the start of November, and earlier this year imposed anti-dumping duties on barley.