CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
The rapid disintegration of goodwill between China and Australia continues this week, as the Australian Prime Minister sticks to the populist strategy of humiliating our most important trade partner in an effort to impress an American President who has roughly 6 weeks left in office.
China’s Ministry of Commerce announced yesterday that tariffs of either 6.3 or 6.4 per cent, would apply to Australian wine due to claims winemakers were subsidised.
Wine is joined by barley, beef and now coal as the pivotal Australian exports that could be crushed by the apathetic Chinese, as our Prime Minister continues his Trumpian rhetoric of blaming their government for the pandemic.
The tariffs will apply from December 11 for the remainder of China’s investigation into countervailing claims, which is expected to report no earlier than August next year.
Industry group Australian Grape and Wine says the trade has already ground to a halt over an unofficial customs ban and anti-dumping tariffs of up to 200 per cent that were applied last month.
China, a trade partner who revolutionised the Australian wine industry by opening up a new market big enough to drain every vat of plonk in our country with a 1% increase, has not taken kindly to Morrison’s inability to hold discussions with Asian leaders without treating them like second class citizens.
However, Morrison says he’s not concerned about every one of Australia’s biggest exports being brought to their knees by China’s decision to not buy our shit anymore.
“We are fine” he said today, during lunch with an increasingly worried David Littleproud and Simon Birmingham.
“We’ve got 300 million other types of Asians living right above us. You know, like Bali and that.”
“Jakarta and Borneo and stuff”
“They love our wine. I’m sure they’d be happy to pick up the slack”
MORE TO COME.
