China suspends tariffs on imported bottled Australian wine

March 28 (UPI) -- China is lifting import tariffs imposed on Australia's more than $650 million trade in bottled wine after almost four years during which it was effectively priced out of the Chinese market, the Australian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

Welcoming the resolution of the dispute, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a joint news release that Canberra had been notified China would remove the duties effective Friday, saying that Australia would drop its World Trade Organization complaint.

Wong said Australia's re-entry to the Chinese market came at a critical time for the industry that was in the interest of both Australian producers and Chinese consumers.

"This outcome affirms the calm and consistent approach taken by the [Anthony] Albanese Labor Government and follows the success of the similar approach taken to remove duties on Australian barley.

"Since 2020, China's duties on Australian wine effectively made it unviable for Australian producers to export bottled wine to that market. Australia's wine exports to China were worth $714 in 2019," said Wong who thanked grape and wine growers for their patience and support.

"The Australian government's approach is to cooperate with China where we can, disagree where we must and engage in our national interest."

Reports in Chinese media said the commerce ministry had released a statement saying the 200% and up "anti-dumping" and anti-subsidy duties on Australian wine imposed amid a 2020 Beijing-Canberra spat were no longer necessary.

The breakthrough came days before a March 31 deadline for Beijing to finalize an "off-ramp" agreement struck last year to lift the tariffs in return for Australia dropping its WTO legal action.

"China wants good high-quality wine, and Australia produces it in places like Hunter Valley, as well the Barossa, through the Clare and even down near Canberra around Murrumbateman, across to Margaret River, down in Tassie [Tazmania]," said Albanese.

"It's such a great industry, it employs hundreds of thousands, if you take into account tourism, if we take into account everything else that comes from here," the PM said from a winery in the Hunter region."

A trade war between China and Australia that blew up over the COVID-19 pandemic also saw Beijing slap 80% tariffs on imports of Australian barley with about $1 billion but those were suspended in August.

China had alleged Australia was selling grain into its market at below production-cost, and subsidizing its farmers, targeting its key agri-export sector as punishment for Canberra pushing for an international investigation of the Chinese origins of COVID-19.