Australian barley growers hit with tariffs of 80 per cent
China has confirmed tariffs of 80 per cent against Aussie barley exports, in apparent retaliation to calls for a coronavirus investigation.
CHINA has locked in tariffs of 80 per cent on Australian barley, knocking Aussie farmers out of the billion dollar trade.
China’s Ministry of Commerce confirmed the tariffs late Monday, a day before a final decision was expected.
It comes amid growing tensions between the two countries, after Australia led the push for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic – a move that know has support from more than 100 nations.
The tariffs – which China says are the conclusion of an 18-month long anti-dumping investigation – include a 73.6 per cent dumping duty and 6.9 per cent subsidy duty.
Trade Minister Simon Birmingham – who has consistently argued there is no basis for the claims – has not ruled out taking China to the World Trade Organisation.
“Australia is deeply disappointed with China’s decision,” Mr Birmingham said.
“We reject the basis of this decision and will be assessing the details of the findings while we consider 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.”
Australia had long been the largest supplier of barley to China, exporting almost 6.5 million tonnes in 2017-18, but that dropped to about 2.4 million in 2018-19, due to China’s investigation and the ongoing drought.
GrainGrowers Limited chairman Brett Hosking said the tariff decision presented Australian agriculture with a “a fair old whack”.
“Farmers should be genuinely upset … the decision is not justified,” Mr Hosking said.
“I don’t know whether it is about politics or not or whether it is just a massive misunderstanding. I’m not sure what else we could have done … the Government has worked quite hard on this and the real challenge now is for them to step up and see what they can do about getting it reversed.
“Growers are potentially looking at a price hit of up to $40 a tonne, but we are hoping it’s not going to be that high.”
Victorian Farmers Federation president David Jochinke said the timing of the decision was “absolutely tragic for farmers who have finished their cropping program and are now committed to their rotation including barley”.
“Since China has been our major exporter, this will have a huge effect on the final price farmers will receive for their barley,” Mr Jochinke said.
“If this decision would have been earlier, farmers would have been able to change their programs to accommodate it. Ultimately, an 80 per cent tariff from your major partner shuts down that whole market for us.”
Mr Jochinke said the decision demonstrated “how fickle international trade is and there are a lot of technical barriers that can be used even though we have trade agreements in place”.
“We have to do everything we can to make sure those technical barriers are reduced as much as possible in any agreement,” he said.
“We are a trading nation, we will always need to have trading partners but it does demonstrate that when you have a heavy reliance on one key player in any market, we are exposed to the whims of their decisions.”
Mr Jochinke said the Government needed to recommit to Australia’s partnership with China while also “vigorously” search for other markets for farmers to sell their barley into.
Mr Hosking said he hadn’t ruled out a breakthrough in negotiations with China or new barley markets emerging before farmers started harvesting their crops in late spring and early summer.
“I’m hopeful that by harvest we might have some new opportunities and possibly things may have been resolved a little bit – but harvest is still a long way away.”
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