Australia’s leading wine industry body Wine Australia will be closing a key office in China after sales continue to tank.
The industry body is responsible for supporting Australia's wine industry through research and development as well as establishing new export markets.
Anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties are protectionist tariffs that governments impose on imports that they deem to be below fair market value, usually at prices lower than the exporting countries' domestic markets. Australia's national association of wine producers, Australian Grape and Wine, said the closure of the Shanghai office did not signal"an end to an era." It noted that despite the challenges, exporters would like to return to the Chinese market and Chinese demand for Australian wines remained buoyant.
Australian exporters struggled with wine sales in China after the duties were imposed, data from Wine Australia for the 12 months ending in March. They have since diverted sales to other markets like the U.S. and U.K., but still faced pandemic-related challenges such as supply chain and global freight disruptions.
Earlier this month, Australia's new defense minister, Richard Marles, and China's defense minister, Wei Fenghe, met on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, also known as the "Asia Security Summit."