Australia eyes backdown on wine after China agrees to scrap barley tariffs

Barley being harvested in New South Wales. Australia barley was hit with an 80% tariff in 2020 at the height of tensions with China. Photograph: Greg Wood/AFP/Getty Images

The Albanese government will press China to remove tariffs on Australian wine, after Beijing’s backdown on barley gave other exporters hope of a further easing of trade tensions.

China’s commerce ministry said it would scrap 80.5% tariffs on Australian barley, a measure that had wiped out trade worth nearly $1bn a year.