Australia takes wine dispute with China to WTO as trade collapses | Business and Financial Issues

Taxes imposed by Beijing tripled or doubled the value of Australian wine and made the Chinese market more volatile for exports.

The Australian government on Saturday complained to the World Trade Organization that China intends to provide anti-waste products outside Australia’s wine, which is growing in the retail market with Beijing.

“The government will continue to vigorously protect the interests of Australian winemakers through a WTO-based approach to resolving our differences,” Dan Tehan, Minister of Trade, Tourism and Finance, said in a joint statement with Agriculture Minister David Littleproud.

Relations with China, formerly Australia after banning Huawei from using 5G-connected internet in 2018, have worsened since Canberra called on the international community to investigate the origins of coronavirus, the first report in China last year.

China, Australia’s largest exporter, has responded by imposing tariffs on Australian goods, including wine and barley and the small export of Australian cattle, coal and grapes, which the United States has described as “economic pressure”.

Last year, Australia asked the WTO to discuss China’s decision to impose a higher tariff on Australian barley prices.

Wine taxes doubled or tripled its value and makes the Chinese market more stable for exports, the Australian government has said in the past.

Australian winemakers shipped 12 million Australian wine (9 $ 9m) to China in the four months from December to March, from 325 million Australian wine (US $ 243m) last year, industry demonstrations show, confirming new prices have gone up. all but the same they wiped out their huge export market.

‘Conflict Resolutions’

In early June, Prime Minister Scott Morrison called on the WTO to resolve the conflict between the two countries and a few days later won a seven-state solution to China’s growing global trade.

On Saturday, the government said that despite complaints, Canberra was ready to enter into an agreement with Beijing.

“Australia is still open to cooperation with China to resolve the crisis,” Tehan and Littleproud revealed.

Saturday’s move comes just one week after a G7-led economic summit reaffirmed Australia’s call for a stronger fight against Chinese trade and its bold global views.

The G7 summit ended on June 12 with the announcement of a US-led plan to address China’s trillion dollar “Belt and Road Initiative”, a testament to its efforts to boost the global economy.

The group has pledged hundreds of billions of dollars in building infrastructure in low- and middle-income countries “Make a Better World” (B3W) project.

B3W appeared to want to compete with China’s efforts, which have been widely criticized for its interests in small countries and unpredictable loans.

Mr Morrison attended the summit as part of the G7 summit in addition to what brought together the leaders of South Korea, South Africa and India, and evidently made it possible for other countries to unite against Chinese ideology.

“The most effective way to deal with economic pressures is to reshape the process of resolving serious conflicts around the world,” he said in a statement preceding the meeting.

“While there is no compulsion, there is no motivation for self-control,” he said.

Morrison has received clear support for his government’s war against China from the US, as well as from French President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to Paris following the G7 summit.