Chinese Importers May Now Apply for Tariff Relief

China is offering partial relief from the current retaliatory tariffs on U.S. wine for Chinese importers in order to stimulate consumer purchases in the country. The current tariff for U.S. bottled wine to China is 54% of the product’s value. After an application process an importer could be reimbursed for up to 25% of the product’s value for wine imported after March 1, 2020. California wineries selling in China should encourage their importers to apply for this relief.

Wineries and Chinese importers can find more information in GAIN reports prepared by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service: CH19057 and CH2020-0017. The first report contains background information and the second includes the application process for importers. China recently expanded the eligibility for the program to all products, including wine.