Scott Morrison vows to fight the grapes of wrath with wine exporter support

Scott Morrison is considering lodging a formal protest against China’s trade sanctions with the World Trade Organisation.

Scott Morrison has vowed to support exporters as tensions with China mount.

Scott Morrison has flagged government support for producers hit by China’s trade sanctions as Australia considers lodging a formal protest against the tariffs with the World Trade Organisation.

The Prime Minister conceded there were “tensions” in the relationship after China on Friday imposed duties of up to 212 per cent on wine exports, claiming Australia was dumping the product.

It followed China targeting Australian barley, lobster and coal exports in the past year, with tension between the countries increasing since Foreign Minister Marise Payne called for an independent probe into the source of the coronavirus.

“As a government we will be looking at how we can get a number of our producers through this difficult time,” Mr Morrison told ABC radio.

“We have done that through COVID as people would know. The airlines basically shut down and the planes weren’t there to (carry) things like crayfish and other things.

“That is why we introduced the freight support subsides which has kept planes in the air and kept businesses in business and kept them connected to markets.”

Government support for impacted sectors would not include an industry subsidy, sources involve in the discussions said.

Mr Morrison said his government was working on diversifying export markets through new trade deals with Britain and the EU.

“We have been working very hard on expanding trade opportunities,” Mr Morrison said.

He likened the impact on Australian producers from the China tensions with Britain joining the European Common Market and the oil price shock of the 1970s.

“Markets that have been very important to Australia, and all of a sudden there was a massive change and everything was disrupted,” he said. “You go to the oil price shocks, you go to the resource boom and bust and commodity boom and bust.

“All of these things economically have caused shocks to the system. What is quite amazing about Australians, and particularly those who work in our ag sector, is how resilient they are.”

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham on Sunday said he expected the government would mount a formal protest against China with the WTO over barley tariffs imposed in May. “I expect that will be the outcome. We are working through exactly when and making sure we have the evidence lined up,” Senator Birmingham told the ABC’s Insiders show.

Senator Birmingham said there were “different opinions” in the industry over whether a WTO appeal was the right action to take.

“If we stand by the rules-based system, you should use that rules-based system, which includes calling out when you think the rules have been broken and calling in the international umpire to help resolve those disputes.

Senator Birmingham said it was too early to tell whether wine tariffs would be taken to WTO.

“This is an interim application of tariffs at the early stage of the anti-dumping investigations, so we still have parts of that Chinese process that we have to work through before we get to the point of a WTO dispute,” Senator Birmingham said.