NEWS
AUSTRALIA FILED A COMPLAINT TO WTO OVER CHINA’S ANTI-DUMPING DUTY ON AUSSIE WINES
By Siulan Law Mathews DipWSET
21-6-2021
Source: WTO
Australia filed a complaint to World Trade Organisation (WTO) last Saturday over China’s anti-dumping duties on the country’s wine exports. The duties almost wiped out exports of Australian wine to the Chinese market.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Sunday that the complaint to WTO should enable bilateral negotiations.
"What lodging the dispute enables us to do is begin dispute consultation settlements, which actually is a bilateral discussion with China about the issues," Payne said in an interview on the Australian Broadcasting Corp's (ABC) 'Insiders' program.
"We've seen duties of over 200% applied to Australian wine. We don't believe that that is consistent with China's obligations under the WTO. So that part of the process enables us to have that direct conversation,” Payne told ABC.
It is the second time in six months that Australia has appealed to the WTO. In December, Canberra launched a formal appeal seeking a review of China's decision to impose hefty tariffs on imports of Australian barley.
Australia’s relations with China, already rocky after Australia banned Huawei from its 5G broadband network in 2018, have worsened since Canberra called for an international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus, first reported in central China last year.
China, Australia's largest trading partner, responded by imposing tariffs on Australian commodities, including wine and barley and limited imports of Australian beef, coal and grapes.
China announced in March that duties of up to 218 percent on Australian bottled wines will be effective for five years.
Ironically, a WTO appeal could take up to five years to be resolved, this could mean that by the time the WTO comes up with a resolution on the matter, China’s punitive tariffs could have already expired.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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