WTO investigates China-Australia wine dispute, expert: In theory, it will take about two or three years

Reporter Liu Yang This newspaper's special correspondent in Australia, Daqiao

According to Reuters reported on the 26th, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said on Tuesday that it had agreed to set up a panel of experts to review China's measures to impose tariffs on Australian imports. In this regard, China's representative to the WTO said that "China regrets Australia's decision to further request the WTO to set up a panel of experts to resolve the dispute." The representative of China stressed that China will actively defend its legitimate measures in the next procedure and believes that the measures are in line with the relevant WTO rules.

This is the second time this year that Australia has filed an application for review on the matter within the framework of the WTO. Australia's first application in September was rejected by China.

He Weiwen, a senior researcher at the Chongyang Institute of Financial Research at Chinese University, said in an interview with the Global Times on the 27th that the WTO investigation of the Sino-Australian wine dispute will theoretically take about two or three years, but it also depends on the specific situation. According to WTO rules, the panel will hold a 6-month review before making a decision, and the country concerned can appeal the decision. The reporter saw on the official website of the WTO that the trade dispute bill numbered DS602 is in the deliberation stage, and the main content is to "review the anti-dumping and countervailing duties imposed by China on Australian wine imports.".

In August 2020, China's Ministry of Commerce launched an anti-dumping investigation into wines originating in Australia at the request of domestic industries. After investigation, the Ministry of Commerce ruled to take corresponding trade remedy measures in accordance with the law. The ruling report shows that there is dumping of wine imports from Australia, causing substantial damage to China's domestic industry, and the adoption of anti-dumping measures is in line with WTO rules and relevant provisions of China's domestic laws. On March 26 this year, the Ministry of Commerce issued an announcement announcing the final ruling on the anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigation of relevant wines originating in Australia, and decided to impose anti-dumping duties on relevant wines originating in Australia from March 28, 2021, with the anti-dumping tax rate of each company being 116.2%-218.4%.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported on the 27th that the Australian government said that Beijing imposed tariffs of up to 220% on wine originating in Australia, "causing serious damage to the Australian wine industry." In March this year, China confirmed that the applicable period of australian wine tariffs is 5 years. The ABC called the move "an end to the most lucrative foreign trade in the Australian wine industry". Since the introduction of wine tariffs, Australian wine exports to China have declined rapidly. In the six months to June, China imported only AU$13 million (about 62 million yuan) of Australian wine, down from A$490 million in the same period last year.

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported that tariffs have made Australian wines uncompetitive in the Chinese market. Data released last week by the Wine Australia Showed that Australian wine exports to China totaled $274 million since November last year, down 77 per cent year-on-year. ▲