"Australia Says Goodbye"... Europe and South America Clash for No.1 Position in China's Wine Market Share

China's Ministry of Commerce Imposes 218% Retaliatory Tariff on Australian Products, Effectively Phasing Out
France, Chile, Italy Compete for Australia's Position in Wine Production

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] European and South American wines are competing to take the No. 1 market share position from Australian wines, which are being phased out in China. China is the world's 5th largest wine market and the largest wine market in Asia, where Australian wines have maintained the No. 1 market share (37%) so far.

The state-run Global Times reported on the 19th that after China's Ministry of Commerce imposed anti-dumping tariffs ranging from 116.2% to 218.4% on Australian wines last March, imports of Italian wines doubled, and imports of European and South American wines increased.

Australian wine (Photo by Baidu)

When the Australian government called for an international investigation into the origin of COVID-19 in April last year, China took economic retaliatory measures by imposing tariffs on Australian agricultural products such as beef, barley, and wine.

The Global Times, citing sources from China's liquor industry, said that competition in the wine market intensified after anti-dumping tariffs were imposed on Australian wines, opening new opportunities for other wine-producing countries such as France, Italy, Bulgaria, Georgia, New Zealand, and Chile. It explained that the market share of Australian wines fell by 20% immediately after the provisional tariff rates (107.1% to 212.1%) were announced in November last year. It added that Australian wines disappeared from the market after the final tariff rates were applied in March.

A Chinese wine importer said, "No new wines have been imported from Australia this year, and all the wines currently on sale were imported last year," adding, "Chinese wine importers are trying to import Chilean wines, which are not subject to tariffs."

Another wine importer said, "Chilean wines are preferred as substitutes for Australian wines," and "All Chilean wine stocks have been sold, and we recently placed a new order for Chilean wines." Chile is also known to be one of the largest wine exporters to China.

The Global Times pointed out that Australian wines have engaged in unfair competition by receiving subsidies from the Australian government, which has negatively affected the Chinese wine market.

Meanwhile, Australia's wine exports to China last year amounted to 1.01 billion Australian dollars (approximately 871.7 billion Korean won), down 14% from the previous year, and the volume was 96 million liters, a 29% decrease compared to the previous year. Australian wines took the No. 1 market share after import tariffs were abolished in 2019, followed by France (27%), Chile (13%), and Italy (6%).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.