China abolishes three-year-old duty on Australian barley to enhance ties

(MENAFN) Starting on Saturday, China will abolish a suffocating three-year-old duty on Australian barley, a symbol of better bilateral trade cooperation since the Australian administration changed.

Following the past Australian administration enraged Beijing by pushing for an independent probe into the causes and reactions to the COVID-19 outbreak, China essentially slammed its door to Australian barley in the month of May 2020 by imposing an 80.5 percent tax.

The two administrations announced the restart of grain trade on Friday, which was valued 916 million Australian dollars (USD602 million) the previous year before China halted shipments.

Australian Premier Anthony Albanese praised the progress, which comes as he prepares to travel to Beijing for the first time as the administration leader before the end of the year. “This is a very positive decision,” Albanese informed journalists.

When Albanese's administration was elected in May of last year, he requested that Beijing remove a slew of legal and unofficial trade restrictions that were costing Australian exporters USD15 billion per year, including barley, wine, coal, wood, cattle, as well as seafood.

China’s Ministry of Commerce stated in a declaration it “ruled that in view of the changes in China’s barley market, it was unnecessary to continue to impose anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties on imported barley originating in Australia.”

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