Special report | Trade law

A fraying system

In global trade, power increasingly trumps rules

MITCHELL TAYLOR, an Australian winemaker, got advice from his agent when he tried to uncork the Chinese market in the 1990s: “it’s all about relationships.” But after Australia became China’s top wine supplier in 2019, this fruitful relationship soured. In November 2020 the Chinese government imposed tariffs on wine from Australia of more than 200%, allegedly because it was being “dumped” on its market at excessively low prices, but in reality as a response to the Australian government’s call for an investigation into the origins of covid-19. Mr Taylor lost a third of his export sales. He reckons the Chinese were sending a message to the world: “don’t upset us.”

This article appeared in the Special report section of the print edition under the headline “A fraying system”

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