On Friday, China said it will impose anti-dumping tariffs on Australian wine.
China’s commerce ministry announced wine importers will be forced to pay deposits of 107-212 percent of the value of their goods at customs, saying the move was in response to substantive harm caused to the relevant domestic wine industry.
Australia’s trade minister Simon Birmingham called the punitive measure as grossly unfair, unwarranted, unjustified, and called the dumping accusation erroneous in fact and in substance.
At a news conference, Birmingham said there was a perception that China was engaging in a deliberate strategy, piling on pressure in a number of different sectors.
He said: Canberra would continue to raise with the World Trade Organization our concerns about the number and cumulative effect of China’s trade sanctions against Australia.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Friday defended the measures as a legitimate move to protect Chinese winemakers and consumers.
Zhao instead blamed Canberra for strained ties with Beijing, saying Australia should do some deep introspection and reflect on whether they have respected China’s interests.
Beijing has on several occasions used the threat of diminished access to its vast domestic market as a stick to beat Australia and has suspended imports of some products including beef and timber.
