Will Additional Withdrawal of Beef and Wine Tariffs Follow?
Following progress in trade agreements between the Australian and Chinese governments, the Chinese government has decided to withdraw the retaliatory high tariffs imposed on Australian barley.
On the 4th, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced, "We have decided to withdraw the tariffs imposed on Australian barley," adding, "Tariffs will be reduced starting from the 5th." However, the Chinese government did not specify details such as the extent of the tariff reduction.
Earlier, in April, the Chinese government agreed to the direction of abolishing tariffs on Australian barley, and the Australian government also suspended its World Trade Organization (WTO) complaint procedures.
Colin Bettles, president of the Grain Producers Association of Australia, welcomed the decision, saying, "This is a victory for Chinese consumers, the grain industry, and exporters alike." Foreign media reported that attention is focused on whether this tariff removal will also lead to the lifting of China's retaliatory import bans on Australian beef, wine, and lobster.
The Australian government stated in a press release, "We expect to follow a similar procedure for the removal of tariffs on Australian wine."
China is Australia's largest trading partner, but tensions began when Australia, in 2018, aligned with the policy stance of the former U.S. administration under Donald Trump and decided to exclude Chinese Huawei equipment from the construction of 5G networks.
Subsequently, in April 2020, when Australia called for an investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 outbreak in China and raised accountability issues, tensions between the two countries rapidly worsened, escalating into a trade dispute.
In May 2020, the Chinese government imposed a high tariff of 80.5% on Australian barley, halting imports of Australian barley worth 2 billion Australian dollars (approximately 1.72 trillion Korean won) annually for three years. In addition to barley, China imposed retaliatory import bans on Australian meat, wine, timber, and barley.
To reduce dependence on China, Australia has strengthened its vigilance by forming security alliances within the Indo-Pacific region with the United States, including the 'Quad' (a security dialogue among the U.S., Japan, Australia, and India), the 'Five Eyes' intelligence alliance among English-speaking countries (the U.S., U.K., Australia, and New Zealand), and 'AUKUS,' which shares nuclear submarine technology.
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