Wine producers down under are breathing a sigh of relief today following the announcement that China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) has scrapped the punitive tariffs on Australian wine after a three-year battle. The abolition of tariffs, in keeping with the MOFCOM’s interim decision of 12 March 2024, comes into effect from tomorrow (29 March 2024). Prior to their imposition, which came into force in 2020, mainland China was Australian wine’s most valuable export market. Australian exports to mainland China peaked at AU$1.3 billion in the 12 months to October 2020. The volume of wine exported into China during this period was 121 million litres. Tariffs have had a grave impact on wine exports to the market. In the 12 months to December 2023 they had fallen to AU$10.1 million, a difference of almost AU$1,290 billion in value. Volume plummeted by 119.6 million litres to 1.4 million in the same period. The number of exporters to the market has also decreased from 2,198 to 117 over the same period, according to Wine Australia. The organisation’s CEO Dr Martin Cole welcomed the news, saying that Mainland China remains an important market for Australian wine. “Over many years, Australian wine companies have developed close relationships with importers, buyers and consumers of Australian wine in China and these relationships remain important to our wine community. Pleasingly, we know that trade and consumer sentiment for Australian wine in China remains positive.” However, he warned that the Chinese wine market is different now to what it
This Article was originally published on The Drink Business - Wine
