China hits Australian winemakers with new tariffs

China has confirmed Australian winemakers will be hit by new tariffs, with levies ranging from 116 to 218 per cent slapped on exports to the key Asian market.

Relations between Australia and China have deteriorated over the past year, with Beijing aggrieved by Australia-led calls for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

That call infuriated the Chinese government, which responded by slapping export restrictions or tariffs on a range of Australian products including barley, beef, coal, lobster and forestry products.

Trade Minister Dan Tehan said on Saturday the latest measure against Australian wine exports, first flagged last year, was “extremely disappointing and completely unjustifiable”.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia would “continue to be patient” and work through the issue with China.

“Whether it’s all of these, what I’d call non-tariff restrictions, which we completely reject as being placed on Australian products by their own admission, publicly, as some form of retaliation for Australians standing up for their values,” he said.

“That’s not OK. I mean stand with Prime Minster [Boris] Johnson, the UK has come under criticism and sanctions as a result of standing up for Uighurs in Xinjiang. Australia has also stood up in that way. It’s important Liberal democracies stand up for these values.”

Australia exported about $1.2 billion worth of wine to China annually but winemakers have warned that tariffs of this magnitude are likely to hit the market hard because of the rise in the cost of Australian wine.

“They’re basically saying we are dumping wine on them and we obviously reject that. I spoke with the industry this morning and they are also extremely disappointed and can see no reason for these [tariffs] to be imposed,” Mr Tehan told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.