纽约时报中文网 - 英文原版-英Australia Says China Is Poised to Lift Punishing Wine Tariffs
October 22, 2023 3 min 501 words
这则报道反映了澳大利亚和中国之间贸易关系的动态。澳大利亚宣布中国准备取消对其葡萄酒的惩罚性关税，这是一项积极的发展。随着中澳关系紧张，尤其是在贸易领域，这一决定可能标志着一次缓和的迹象。 然而，这也是贸易战和政治关系中的一个小步骤。澳大利亚和中国之间仍然存在深层次的分歧，包括安全和政治议题。因此，这一举措不应被过分乐观解读。两国应该进一步努力改善关系，以共同获益，而不是仅仅在某些领域缓和紧张局势。这需要建立信任和开放的对话。 总之，取消葡萄酒关税是一个积极的信号，但中澳关系的改善需要更多的努力和持续的外交工作，以解决根本性问题。
Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announced on Sunday that he would visit China early next month, meeting with its top leader, Xi Jinping. Such a visit would be the first by an Australian leader since 2016 and another sign of easing tensions between the two nations, along with the recent release of a detained Australian journalist and a breakthrough on talks aimed at removing staggering tariffs on Australian wine that China imposed three years ago.
China is Australia’s biggest overseas market, with exports and services to China forming nearly one-third of Australia’s overall trade. But that relationship suffered a heavy blow in April 2020, after the prime minister at the time, Scott Morrison, called for an independent investigation into the origin of Covid-19. In retaliation for what it called “political games” intended to assign blame for the pandemic, Beijing imposed punitive tariffs on Australian barley, beef, cotton, coal and wine.
In 2019, Australia had shipped wine with a value of $800 million to China; sales there dropped 97 percent in the first year after tariffs were imposed. As storage tanks overflowed, farmers faced a choice between selling grapes at a huge loss or keeping costs to a minimum and not harvesting.
On Sunday, Mr. Albanese, who since his election last year has sought to improve ties with Australia’s giant neighbor, said that China had agreed to review duties ranging between 116.2 percent and 218.4 percent on Australian bottled wine. The Australian government would suspend a complaint it had lodged with the World Trade Organization to challenge the China tariffs, he added.
Mr. Albanese said that the tariffs were likely to be removed. China lifted punitive duties on barley in August after a similar review. Restrictions on Australian coal and timber have also been removed.
“We’re very confident that this will result in, once again, Australian wine, a great product, being able to go to China, free of the tariffs which have been imposed by China,” Mr. Albanese said in a news conference.
During his visit starting Nov. 4, Mr. Albanese, in addition to meeting with Mr. Xi in Beijing, will attend the China International Import Expo in Shanghai with Premier Li Qiang. Mr. Li and Mr. Albanese held bilateral talks at the East Asia Summit in Indonesia in September. Mr. Albanese’s office said he planned to discuss cooperation in trade and climate change, among other issues.
Another recent diplomatic breakthrough was the release of Cheng Lei. Ms. Cheng, an Australian journalist who worked for China’s global television network and was detained three years ago, returned to Australia in October. Her detention had prompted questions about whether the Chinese government was increasingly using “hostage diplomacy.”