Australia’s largest wine exporters have reacted with dismay after Beijing’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) slapped massive 100 to 200 percent tariffs on imports from the weekend.
A list from MOFCOM reveals Australia’s largest wine producer Treasury Wine Estates (makers of Penfolds, Rawson’s Retreat, and Jacob’s Creek) was hit with one of the highest tariffs at 169.3 percent.
Importers of Casella Wines, Accolade Wines, Pernod-Ricard, Zilzie, Australian Vintage, and Brown Brothers etc. have also been laden with a 160.6 percent tariff.
Australian wine companies not highlighted or singled out, will be slugged with a broad-ranging 212.1 percent tariff.
Treasury Wines Estate (TWE) CEO Tim Ford said, “We are extremely disappointed to find our business, our partners’ businesses and the Australian wine industry in this position.”
“The strength of our brands, including Penfolds, combined with our diversified business model will allow TWE to implement a range of changes and plans that will enable us to manage through the significant impact of these measures going forward ...” he said in a
statement.
“However, there is no doubt this will have a significant impact on many across the industry, costing jobs and hurting regional communities and economies which are the lifeblood of the wine sector,” he added.
Swan Winegroup attracted the lowest tariff at 107.1 percent. Swan also happens to be a “
well connected“ wine group with distribution links in 150 Chinese cities throughout China, according to the Australian Financial Review.
It also created a
special label with the image of former Australian ambassador to China, Geoff Raby.
Raby has been a vocal critic of the Australian government’s handling of its relationship with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in recent months, saying the prime minister’s calls for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 were
“ill-judged.”
