China lifts anti-dumping duties on Australian barley after three years, easing supply concerns

China on Friday removed tariffs on Australian barley imports from August 5, a move aimed at improve bilateral relations and would ease supply concerns after Russia suspended a humanitarian corridor to deliver key Ukrainian grains to global markets.

These anti-dumping and countervailing duties were imposed in mid-2020 at the height of diplomatic tensions between China and Australia. Beijing imposed tariffs on imports various Australian exports from wine and red meat to lobsters and wood. In addition to this barley announcement, China also resumed imports of Australian coal in January.

China’s Ministry of Commerce “has ruled that it is no longer necessary to impose further anti-dumping and countervailing duties on imports of barley originating in Australia in view of changes in the Chinese barley market.” said in a statement Friday. No further details on these changes were provided.

In April, Australia agreed to “temporarily stay” its World Trade Organization complaint against China over its 2020 decision to impose 80.5% tariffs on Australian barley, paving the way for Beijing to speed up its review of the tariff decision. . These fees were scheduled to expire next week.

“We welcome this result, which paves the way for our barley exporters to re-enter the Chinese market, benefiting Australian growers and Chinese consumers,” said Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell, the Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Agriculture Minister Murray Watt. said in a joint statement. “The removal of these tariffs means that Australia will now suspend legal proceedings at the WTO.”

Farrell, Wong and Watt said they expect a similar process for the removal of tariffs on Australian wine. In March 2021, China introduced a crushing five-year tariff of up to 218% on Australian wine.

Australia is one of the few developed nations on Earth that exports more to China than it imports from China. Their bilateral relationship deteriorated after Australia supported a call for an international investigation on China’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

The move is also likely to open up another source of barley imports for China, which would ease concerns about food price inflation stemming from Russia’s withdrawal last month from a landmark deal known as the Grain Initiative. of the Black Sea.

Over the past year, the agreement has facilitated the passage of more than 1,000 ships carrying nearly 33 million metric tons of wheat, barley, corn and sunflower flour from Ukraine.

China, one of Moscow’s closest strategic allies and the world’s second-largest economy, was the undisputed top recipient of Ukrainian agricultural products, including about a quarter of the volume of outgoing barley. according to data provided by the United Nations Thursday.

The United States and its Western allies are looking at china to help resolve the dire ripple effect of Russia’s exit from the crucial UN-backed farm deal.