Grain Trade Australia (GTA) has welcomed the today’s announcement of a process agreed between China and Australia to review the Anti-dumping (AD) and Countervailing Duties (CVD) imposed on Australian barley exports to China.

GTA CEO Pat O’Shannassy said the announcement was an important step forward in seeking resolution of this issue and congratulated both the Australian and Chinese Governments for their work to reach this agreement.

“China was historically a very important export market for barley from Australia over many decades, with very strong customer relationships and considerable cooperation between industry partners in plant breeding and technical support to meet China’s needs”, Mr O’Shannassy said.

“Our barley exports to China peaked at 6.3 million tonnes in 2016-17 before falling to negligible levels once the duties were imposed in 2020, so we very much hope this process over the next few months will enable our trade relationships to see exports resume.

“GTA looks forward to participating in the review process if and when appropriate”, he said.

Background

China and Australia have reached an agreement which could see the timely removal of import duties on Australian barley.

This two-step process will see China initiate an expedited review of these duties on Australian barley, this week. This review over three months will include an option to extend, and also time to implement the review’s findings. Australia will also suspend the WTO dispute which will be filed today in Geneva – and if the duties are removed (from the China review) the case will be withdrawn.

Trade Minister Don Farrell and Foreign Minister Penny Wong made announcement of this process today in Adelaide, at midday AEST.

The opportunity and a process such as this, for both parties to resolve this dispute, has always been an option as part of the WTO’s processes.