China’s retaliation against Australia continues to ramp up. Australian wine exporters have been found guilty of dumping and ordered to post hefty deposits.
China’s Ministry of Commerce announced Friday (Nov. 27) that Australian wines exported to China have been found to be dumped and Australian exporters have been ordered to post high deposits starting Saturday.
China’s Ministry of Commerce said in Announcement No. 59 of 2020 that the investigation initially found that the dumping of Australian wine had caused “substantial injury” to China’s wine industry, “and that there is a causal relationship between dumping and substantial injury.
The ministry requires Australian wine producers to post a margin similar to the high tariffs imposed, ranging from 107.1 percent to 212.1 percent.
Australia’s Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said the imposition of such tariffs is unjustified and comes at a painful time for hundreds of winemakers, which “will make many of them, and their wine trade with China, unsustainable.
Australian Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said, “The Australian government strongly rejects the allegation that our wine producers are dumping wine into China.
According to official Australian figures, Australia exports A$1 billion worth of wine to China each year, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the country’s total wine exports.
Last week, China provided Australian media with a list of 14 of Beijing’s grievances against Canberra, including challenging China on matters such as Taiwan and Hong Kong, restricting Chinese investment and Huawei’s participation in the 5G network, and spreading “false information” about China’s response to the new coronavirus.
Littlechild told the media on Friday that China’s recent words and actions give the impression that “they care more about the discontent with these things than they do about which industries are actually having problems.”
“It’s not just Australian exporters who are concerned, it’s exporters all over the world,” the agriculture minister added.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular press conference on Friday that the provisional anti-dumping of Australian wine was a measure taken by China “in accordance with the law on imported goods” and that it was “responsible for the domestic industry and consumers.
However, Zhao Lijian did not stop at the factual level. He added: “A healthy and stable China-Australia relationship is in the fundamental interest of the two peoples, and the Australian side should do more for the benefit of the two countries.
Zhao also highlighted that “some people on the Australian side should reflect on themselves; Australia should seriously consider China’s concerns, not undermine China’s interests.”
Observers point out that Zhao’s words have made it very clear that China’s punishment of Australian wine exporters is just one of many retaliatory measures, and that there will likely be more until Australia bows its head and submits to Beijing. More importantly, by retaliating without restraint, Beijing is also making it clear to the West, which follows the United States, that there is a huge price to pay for blaming China.
Australia’s relationship with China has been bumpy in recent years. As China’s influence has grown, its full penetration of Australia has caused a strong backlash within Australia. However, the real turning point in the relationship came in the early stages of this year’s virus pandemic. Beijing was struck by Prime Minister Morrison’s call for an independent international investigation into the source of the outbreak of the new coronavirus in China. Chinese retaliation ensued across the board, from barley, beef, coal, and seafood, all the way to timber, sugar, wine, and cotton.
Chinese officials also discouraged their citizens and students from traveling and studying in Australia in an effort to discourage tourism and educational institutions.
In September of this year, China secretly arrested Australian-Chinese journalist Cheng Lei, and later used security intimidation to force the emergency evacuation of two Australian journalists from China.
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