China has imposed massive tariffs on Australian wine in an anti-dumping measure that will have a dramatic impact on the industry.
China's Ministry of Commerce announced the duties will range from 107.1 per cent to 212.1 per cent, effectively doubling to tripling the cost of Australian wine.
"There is a causal relationship between (wine) dumping and material damage," the ministry said in a statement.
China accounts for nearly 40 per cent of Australian wine exports, by far the biggest global market.
China has argued that Australian winemakers have flooded its market with cheap wine, selling it for less than it sells in Australia.
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said Australia would be "vigorously fighting against" the "seriously concerning development".
"The Australian Government categorically rejects any allegation that our wine producers are dumping product into China, and we continue to believe there is no basis or any evidence for these claims," he said.
"We will continue to work with our wine industry and Chinese authorities as part of the ongoing dumping investigation, but we will of course consider all of our options moving forward.
"Australian wine is hugely popular both in China and across the globe due to its high quality and we are confident that a full and thorough investigation will confirm this."
The tariffs will take effect from Saturday, and while they are described as "temporary", no end date has been announced.
The tariffs come after an investigation launched by the Ministry of Commerce in August.
It follows massive Chinese tariffs on Australian beef and barley.
There have also been unofficial bans on coal, sugar, lobsters, copper and log timber coming into China from Australia since the start of the month, the South China Morning Post reports.
Treasury Wine Estates, which produces Penfolds Grange, has suspended trade on its shares after the announcement caused its value to plummet.
China's demand for Australian wine has skyrocketed, doubling to about 52 million in the space of seven years, Wine Australia estimates.
Australia accounts for a quarter of China's wine market.
Read more: Australia to bolster defence ties with Japan amid China's rise
Read more: How 9News got the dossier at the heart of the latest diplomatic scuffle between Canberra and Beijing
from 9News https://ift.tt/37dEwsc
via IFTTT
0 Comments