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Home on the Grange: Trade talks expected to remove Chinese tariffs on Aussie wines

By Dominic Giannini and Kat Wong in Canberra

Australian wine producers are keeping their fingers crossed for a tariff breakthrough as Foreign Minister Penny Wong prepares to host her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

Mar 20, 2024, updated Mar 20, 2024
Australian wines are tipped to return to shelves in China soon. (Photo: Kelsey Knight/Unsplash)

Australian wines are tipped to return to shelves in China soon. (Photo: Kelsey Knight/Unsplash)

Senator Wong is expected to raise the high levies and trade barriers imposed by China on wine, beef and lobster when the pair meet for the sixth time in Canberra on Wednesday.

Mr Wang is set to meet with business leaders on Thursday.

Beijing has signalled a willingness to lift punitive tariffs on Australian wine by the end of the month after an interim recommendation for its review into the measures found they should be scrapped.

Crippling impediments on Australian beef and lobster also remain in place.

It is unlikely there will be a concrete announcement on either but a pathway to the removal of the tariffs could be outlined, even if only in private, China expert Ben Herscovitch said.

“My hunch is there will probably be an announcement on wine duty in the coming weeks,” he said.

“It’s a really significant, high-profile visit and both sides want something significant to come out of it.”

Wine producers are also cautiously optimistic about an outcome after years “on their knees”, Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said.

“While they don’t expect to return to pre-tariff arrangements … they will be working very hard when trade is opened,” she told Sky News.

“There is much to be proud of in Australia’s wine industry, so I do hope we take those steps.”

But there are calls for a support package for the industry, after Nationals Leader David Littleproud warned it could take time for producers to get back on their feet even if the tariffs are removed this month.

His meetings with Chinese ambassador Xiao Qian had been productive and concerns about the impact of the trade barriers on local producers had been conveyed to Beijing, he said.

“In our culture, to turn the page you have to do something tactile and the ambassador has worked tirelessly in making sure that happened as he did with barley,” Mr Littleproud said.

Senator Wong is also expected to raise human rights concerns and China’s aggression in the region.

The case of Australian Yang Hengjun will also be high on the agenda, with Senator Wong set to raise opposition to the suspended death penalty handed down against the writer by a Chinese court.

Dr Yang faces life in prison after his two-year suspended death sentence following national security charges the writer and the Australian government have always denied.

But it was unlikely there would be any headway in the case as there was with detained Australian journalist Cheng Lei who was released by China last year given the writer’s charges were on national security grounds, Dr Herscovitch said.

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