Australia to Continue WTO Case on China Wine Duties, Rejects Beijing's Proposal
Australia will continue its case at the World Trade Organization against China's tariff treatment of wine imports and reject Beijing's proposal to curtail the issue to China's case against Australia's treatment of steel products. Australian Agriculture Minister Murray Watt told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the government sees the cases as "entirely separate matters."
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Watt said that the government "will continue our WTO case as it comes to wine, and we will continue to defend our case as it comes to steel, but we hope all of these things can be resolved through dialogue."
The minister championed Australia's recent efforts to reinvigorate the trading relationship with China after fraying relations led to escalating adverse trade action. This has paid dividends for Aussie farmers exporting goods such as barley, though wine remains an issue, Watt said. Beijing and Canberra settled a spat at the WTO on Australian barley through dialogue, and Watt said he hopes the wine dispute will be resolved the same way.