China’s tariffs on Australian barley to be escalated to World Trade Organization

Australia’s claim that China unfairly imposed tariffs on barley exports will be escalated to the World Trade Organization.

Beijing last year imposed crippling tariffs on Australian-grown barley, claiming farmers had dumped the grain for cheaper than it cost to produce.

Australia heavily refuted the claims and, in December, referred the tariffs to the World Trade Organization.

It’s now being requested that an independent dispute panel be established by the WTO.

Trade Minister Dan Tehan said he had opened a line of communication with China but it had not resulted in a resolution.

“While there was constructive engagement on both sides, these consultations did not resolve our concerns,” Tehan said.

“The WTO dispute settlement system is designed to allow members to settle their differences over trade matters in a respectful manner.

“This decision is an appropriate use of an established system to resolve our differences and is consistent with action Australia has previously taken to address concerns with measures imposed by other trading partners.”

The barley tariffs were introduced last May.

Coincidentally, they came after Australia found itself at the forefront in calling for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19.

Then-Trade Minister Simon Birmingham indicated Australia would appeal the imposition of a 73.6 per cent anti-dumping tariff and a 6.9 per cent anti-subsidy tariff slapped on all Australian barley.

“Australia is deeply disappointed with China’s decision to impose duties on Australian barley,” he said in a statement at the time.

“We reject the basis of this decision and will be assessing the details of the findings while we consider the next steps.

“We reserve all rights to appeal this matter further and are confident that Australian farmers are among the most productive in the world, who operate without government subsidy of prices.”

China said the tariffs came after 18 months of investigations of an anti-dumping complaint.

Dumping occurs when a company exports a product at a far lower price than it normally charges its own market.

The United States, meanwhile, is throwing its support behind Australia.

Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell told the Sydney Morning Herald the Biden Administration was “not going to leave Australia alone on the field”.

“We’ve indicated both to Australia and China at the highest levels that we are fully aware of what’s going on and we are not prepared to take substantial steps to improve relations until those policies are addressed and a more normal interplay between Canberra and Beijing is established,” he said.

In addition to the barley tariffs, trade limitations on Australia’s beef and wine exports have also been targeted.

Trade bans and tariffs have dealt a blow to at least $20 billion worth of Australian exports to China.

Source: 7 News.com.au