China-Australia relations: Beijing officially slaps import duties on Australian wine after concluding probe
- Anti-dumping duties of between 116.2 per cent and 218.4 per cent will be imposed on Australian wines in containers of two litres or less
- The duties – higher than temporary tariffs in November last year – will be applied for five years from Sunday
China has officially slapped duties of between 116.2 per cent and 218.4 per cent on Australian wines in containers of up to two litres after concluding anti-dumping investigations on Friday.
The duties – higher than the preliminary tariffs – will be applied for five years from Sunday, after the Chinese commerce ministry reiterated a decision made in November that the domestic wine industry had been hurt by the dumping of cheap Australian wine.
“China’s domestic wine industry has suffered material damage, and there is a causal relationship between the dumping and subsidies and the material damage,” the ministry said in a press release.
“The Ministry of Commerce conducted investigations in strict accordance with relevant Chinese laws and regulations and [World Trade Organization] rules, and made the final ruling.”
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Earlier duties ranged between 107.1 per cent to 212.1 per cent.
The ministry also levied additional anti-subsidy duties of between 6.3 per cent to 6.4 per cent, but said it would not be collecting them to prevent double taxation.
Smaller and non-major exporters have been slapped with the highest duty of 218.4 per cent.
Before the conflict, China imported nearly 40 per cent of Australia’s wine exports worth around A$1 billion a year.