China is crushing the Australian wine industry with its tariffs

Disagreements began in 2018, when Australia was the first state to ban Huawei's entry into the 5G network. Tensions between Beijing and Canberra have risen since the Australian government has called for an international inquiry into the origins of the new coronavirus. The arrest of two Australian journalists in China was also a problem. Beijing has since imposed trade tariffs on Australia and is investigating several Australian products for possible illegal state aid. According to Wine Australia, the wine industry generates up to a $ 45 billion a year. In 2019, Australia exported more than a third of its wine to China. It bought products from Australian winemakers for more than a billion Australian dollars. This year, Australia sold more wine to China than it sold to the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. According to statistics from the Wine Australia industry group, wine exports to China fell to almost zero in December. The total value of wine exported to China for the whole of 2020 fell by 14 percent. "By the middle of last year, we had sold more than 96 percent of our wines to Chinese consumers, up to seven million bottles a year. We haven't sold a single bottle since, "Australian winemaker Jarrad White told CNN. Australia is the world's fifth largest exporter of wine and is home to some of the most famous wine regions in the world, such as the Barossa Valley in South Australia and the Hunter Valley in New South Wales. Therefore, it had to reorient its market elsewhere. Some winemakers are looking for new opportunities overseas, but also hope to expand to India. Others said they were trying to establish themselves in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. A new free trade agreement with the UK could also open up new opportunities. However, the high duty does not only apply to wine. As relations between Canberra and Beijing cooled, many Australian exports began to face barriers to entering the Chinese market. Moreover, now no one expects relations between China and Australia to improve.