The decision scraps duties as high as 218% on Australian wine exports to China, its largest overseas market once worth more than 1 billion Australian dollars ($653 million).
The Australian government said it welcomed Beijing’s decision “which comes at a critical time for the Australian wine industry.”“Since 2020, China’s duties on Australian wine effectively made it unviable for Australian producers to export bottled wine to that market,” the statement read.
“There are a lot of people in the Australian wine industry who will be reaching out for a good glass of wine tonight and feeling a whole lot happier about their future,” Bruce Tyrrell, managing director of Tyrrell’s Wines in New South Wales, told CNN.
Annual wine production hit its lowest point in more than 15 years during 2022-2023, Wine Australia said.
Lee McLean, head of national association of grape and wine producers Australian Grape & Wine, said industry groups were working with the Australian government to “ensure a coordinated re-entry” into the market.
Persons:
”, “, that’s, ” Bruce Tyrrell, Lee McLean, ” McLean, Anthony Albanese’s, Albanese, Wang Yi, Penny Wong, Yang Hengjun, Wong
Organizations:
Sydney CNN, China’s Ministry of Commerce, Canberra, World Trade Organization, Tyrrell’s, CNN, Wine Australia, Global, Wine, China’s Foreign, Anthony Albanese’s Labor, China’s, Ministry, Australian
Locations:
Hong Kong, Sydney, China, Australia, Beijing, New South Wales, Wine Australia, United Kingdom, Europe, China’s