Australia seeks separate dialogue on China wine dispute

Australia wants a separate engagement with China on their wine disagreement, the agriculture minister said on Sunday, rejecting Beijing’s idea to connect wine with other trade concerns as the two countries work to repair their strained ties.

China’s elimination of duties on Australian barley this month has fuelled expectations for a reduction in wine levies, which have been in place since 2021 and have harmed the country’s wine exports.

Bilateral ties deteriorated in 2020 as Australia demanded an investigation into the origins of COVID-19, prompting Beijing to retaliate with a slew of trade restrictions that harmed Australia’s export-reliant economy.

China on Thursday proposed a “packaged solution” that would tie the wine dispute to those about duties on Australian imports of Chinese railway wheels, wind towers and stainless steel sinks, state news agency Xinhua reported.

But Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said on Sunday, “We see them as entirely separate matters.” The government wants the wine dispute “resolved in the same way the barley dispute was resolved – through dialogue”, he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

“We will continue our WTO (World Trade Organization) case when it comes to wine and we will continue to defend the case when it comes to steel,” Watt said, referring to disputes ongoing at the global trade body.

China was Australia’s top wine export market before COVID, peaking at A$1.2 billion ($770 million) for the 12 months to January 2020 when the pandemic hit. In the year to June, they had plunged to A$8.1 million ($5.2 million).

($1 = 1.5526 Australian dollars)