Australia's urge to cancel barley tariffs rejected by Beijing

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China imposed an 80.5% anti-dumping and countervailing duty on imported barley from Australia in May. Australia was rejected by China last week to cancel the high tariffs imposed on Australia. Of all Australian barley exports, Chinese purchases account for 70%.

According to a Reuters report on 2nd November, Australia's request to cancel import tariffs on barley was rejected by China. The report quoted two sources with knowledge of the matter as saying that China rejected Australia's request to remove tariffs on barley and almost closed the door to this trade worth about 1.5 billion Australian dollars (1.05 billion US dollars) in 2018. The source said, last week we were told that the application was unsuccessful. The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. We were very disappointed, but not surprised.

After China imposed tariffs on barley, Australia requested the Ministry of Commerce of China in August to formally review the procedures for ruling on barley tariffs. According to Australian government data, China accounts for approximately 70% of all Australian barley exports. China imposed an 80.5% anti-dumping and countervailing duty on imported barley from Australia in May. Australia denies the existence of dumping and subsidies. The report said that China's Ministry of Commerce did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters said China’s refusal would force Australian farmers to sell barley to the domestic livestock industry at a lower price than it sold to China.