(Reuters) – Treasury Wine Estates Ltd, the world’s largest standalone winemaker, said on Monday that Beijing had imposed a final combined 175.6% anti-dumping and countervailing duty rate on its Australian wine imports into China, its biggest market.
The final decision from China’s Ministry of Commerce, a jump from the 169.3% imposed on Treasury Wine products last November, came into effect on Sunday and is applicable for at least five years.
It follows an industry-wide anti-dumping investigation launched by Beijing last year to examine any damage to the domestic wine industry from Australian wine imports.
To avoid the hefty tariffs, Australia’s Treasury Wine had said it would redirect its sales to the United States, Europe and elsewhere in Asia.
The final rate, which is consistent with the highest possible tariff that China imposed in its preliminary ruling, further strains diplomatic relations between Beijing and Canberra, which soured after Australia called for an independent inquiry into the origin of the coronavirus pandemic.
Shares of Treasury Wine closed 1.4% weaker, after hitting their lowest since March 5 earlier in the session.
(Reporting by Soumyajit Saha and Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Cooney and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
