A pile of barley sits beneath a silo at a grain facility in Balliang, Victoria, Australia, on May 18, 2020. Photo: VCG

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Friday announced to end anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on barley imported from Australia starting from Saturday after the change in China's barley market has made it unnecessary for these duties. 
MOFCOM imposed a 73.6 percent anti-dumping duty and a 6.9 percent countervailing duty on imported barley originating from Australia for a five-year period in May 2020, according to the MOFCOM statement. 

The ministry decided to review the necessity for whether to continue imposing the duties at the request of the China Alcoholic Drinks Associations in April. MOFCOM ruled that the continued imposition of anti-dumping and countervailing duties on imports of Australian barley was no longer necessary in light of the changing conditions in the Chinese barley market. 

Experts said the move will further improve the China-Australia relations amid thawing ties which will consolidate and strengthen the bilateral trade and economic exchanges, while expecting the momentum to further last in various sectors. 

The suspension of the duties will be conducive to push the China-Australia relations back on the track while boosting their sustainable development, as China remains Australia's largest trading partner, Song Wei, a professor at the school of international relations and diplomacy at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times on Friday.  

Song said China attaches great importance to the bilateral exchanges under the scope of promoting the regional cooperation, noting China has been playing a vital and irreplaceable role for Australia's exports which majorly include agricultural products and minerals. 

At present, China-Australia economic and trade relations are facing an important window period, Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian told the Global Times in an exclusive interview in May. 

Since the imposition of the duties, the market demand from China for barley has been growing steadily with a huge potential from major downstream sectors such as beer brewing and production for feedstuffs. The supply of domestic barley is not capable of meeting the surging demand while the imported barley still remains the major supply source for related downstream merchants, according to the MOFCOM statement. 

Meanwhile, the global supply and trade of barley has been affected by various uncertainties, resulting in a tightening international supply, said MOFCOM.

Ending the duties will have a positive impact on downstream industry players and consumers which also meets the public interests, as the reduction in barley procurement channels and increasing risks for securing a stable and diversified domestic barley supply burdened additional operating costs for downstream businesses, read the statement. 

Australia remained China's largest source for barley in 2019. In 2020, China imported 1.49 million tons of barley from Australia, accounting for 18.46 percent of the total barley imports that year. After the imposition of the duties, China's barley imports from Australia have been gradually declining, according to official data. 

The end of the duties on Australian barley will offer more high-quality beer for Chinese manufactures and consumers amid the rising market demand, while Australia still needs to rely on China's ever-expanding market for a promising future for other sectors as well, Chen Hong, president of the Chinese Association of Australian Studies and director of the Australian Studies Centre at East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Friday. 

The trade cooperation between China and Australia has been boosted with more unleashed potential under the closer ties. In March, 2023, the Global Times learned that the Australian cotton sales to China started increasing, while Chinese steel companies began resuming coal imports from Australia in January. The trade of Australian timber and lobster also saw fresh signs of trade recovery earlier this year. 

Chen meanwhile noted that China has conducted the review and implemented decisions based on its own pace, as Australia was urged to give a full trust in China rather than imposing the demand. He noted that China made the adjustment aligning with the actual market changes, and the previous imposition on the duties was made on evidence-based facts. 

Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell said on Friday that China's decision was a "positive step in the full resumption of normal trade," according to news.com.au. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong also noted that "this is the right outcome for Chinese consumers and Australian producers."

Farrell said earlier that Australia expects to hear news within days on China's four-month review of the punitive tariffs on Australian barley exports, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. With just over a week to go until August 11 "deadline," Farrell said in an interview that there was "goodwill" between China and Australia, and he was hopeful of a positive outcome from Beijing, per the report. 

Australia should not be entangled in the end for whether the reviewing period is three months or four months as it is determined by the legal investigation procedure rather than human factors, Li Yong, a senior research fellow at the China Association of International Trade, told the Global Times on Friday.

Amid the thawing bilateral relations, experts also urged Australia to continue the positive momentum with practical practices and strategic determination rather than following the US and taking a side. 

Song noted that recently Australia has followed the US in making some public political stances by choosing a side or speculative indications, which is not beneficial for the continued development of China-Australia relationship. China has maintained sincerity to promote the cooperation with Australia, aiming to also boost the regional cooperation and development especially in the Asia Pacific, she said, urging Australia to implement practices for progressing the bilateral relationships with a pragmatic view. 

Chen echoed with Song, hoping the Australian government to deal with domestic discordant voices with adequate political wisdom and strategic determination. 

The trade between China and Australia in the first half of 2023 reached $116.16 billion, a year-on-year increase of 8.6 percent, data from Chinese customs showed.