The State Government is celebrating China’s decision to lift all import duties on Australian bottled wine.
It will see free trade between the South Australia wine sector and China reinstated, allowing SA businesses to re-enter the popular market.
In October 2020, prior to the start of tariffs, China was South Australia’s largest wine export market, with exports valued at $946.5 million, accounting for 47.2 per cent of South Australia’s wine exports globally.
In November 2020, China made interim determinations of anti-dumping and countervailing duties against Australia, with import duties of up to 218% confirmed in March 2021.
As a result, the amount of Australian wine exported to China plummeted. For the year ending January 2024, wine exports to China were valued at just $2.8 million, with a volume of 1.05 million litres.
China’s announcement to remove all trade barriers on Australian wine follows concerted efforts by both the State and Federal Governments to stabilise the trading relationship between the two nations.
The recent visit to China by the Premier and a delegation of food, wine and agribusiness CEOs demonstrated strong interest from Chinese importers and industry to re-engage directly with South Australian wine exporters.
This was reinforced at the recent Taste of South Australia events in China, attended by Minister for Primary Industries Clare Scriven.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with President Xi Jinping on his trip to China. Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and Federal Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell have also been busy advocating for Australian producers on trips to Beijing.
In preparation for the removal of the tariffs, the Government delivered China Market Insights Workshops to almost 200 South Australian wine industry businesses at four events held in Coonawarra, Barossa, Riverland and the Adelaide Hills in late January and early February.
Significant progress has been made at both state and federal levels to stabilise the relationship with China, who have already removed trade impediments on a range of Australian products since May last year, including coal, cotton, timber, barley, and oaten hay.
Quotes
Attributable to Premier Peter Malinauskas
This an exciting day for South Australia and in particular the communities in our world-famous wine producing regions.
The decision of the Chinese Government to lift tariffs is a significant one for thousands of South Australians whose lives and livelihoods have been significantly hurt in recent years.
At both a State and Federal level, the Government has been passionately advocating for the removal of trade barriers on Australian wine and speaking directly with key decision makers in China.
My visit to China in September, the first by a South Australian Premier since 2019, demonstrated to me there is still a strong desire from the Chinese market to enjoy quality SA made wine.
This is a decision which has the potential to deliver benefits for people of both nations.
It’s with great excitement the tariffs have now been dropped and our local wine industry can explore opportunities to restore export relationships to our largest trading partner.
