【英语生活】欧洲葡萄酒关税或上调 经销商加紧进口

Chinese wine distributors are scrambling to secure bottles from Europe, fearing that a trade spat between the European Union and China─the world's fifth-largest wine market─might lead to significantly higher tariffs on imported European wine.

'Every import company is trying to finish the duty clearance as soon as possible to avoid paying more taxes,' said Jared Liu, chief executive of the online wine retailer Yes My Wine, which sold more than 400 million yuan ($65 million) in wine last year. Mr. Liu said that his company, based in Shanghai, is spending an extra 10 million yuan in the coming weeks to make sure all its wines in bonded warehouses─a secured area for storing dutiable goods─are released.

'We don't have details on how much [the tax] will be raised, but the rumor we hear is that the policy will be deployed within 60 days and [the increase] could be very high.'

China earlier this month launched an antidumping probe of European wine in response to the EU's move to increase tariffs on Chinese-made solar panels.

The investigation, wine distributors say, could lead to a substantial increase in duties.

Wine merchants are taking a wait-and-see approach. But Mr. Liu said people in the government are telling him that taxes are in the pipeline, hence his moves.

But extra tariffs on European wine could be a boon for producers from other regions who are ready to fill China's empty glasses if the trade spat drags on.

China has accused Europe of flooding the country with cheap wine. Currently, all imported wines to China are subject to taxes that amount to about 48% of the declared value. A punitive tariff would be charged in addition to that rate if China's antidumping probe concludes unfavorably for the EU.

Ian Park, chief executive of importer Summergate Wines, said that domestic Chinese wine producers have been complaining for months that cheap wine from Europe, especially Spain, has invaded the Chinese market. Only in the past year, he said, have cheap Spanish wines appeared on supermarket shelves at the equivalent of $3 a bottle.

'This runs deeper than solar panels,' he said.

The big beneficiaries of the trade spat will be Chile and New Zealand, he said, because both countries have bilateral free-trade agreements with China over wine.

Mr. Liu of Yes My Wine said he expects a major increase in the tariffs and estimates his current tax payment would double, pushing drinkers to simply switch to other countries' wines.

'We are looking more into suppliers from other countries like Australia, the U.S. and Chile,' Mr. Liu said. 'The market won't change. People will drink. But the structure of the market would change a lot.'

China imported 266 million liters of bottled wine last year, an increase of 10% from the previous year, with more than two-thirds coming from the EU, according to an industry data provider, International Wine and Spirit Research. China has a particular fondness for French wines, which made up 48% of imported bottles.

Should extra taxes turn Chinese drinkers away from Europe, that could open the door for California, whose wine industry has been heavily marketing itself to try to break into the China market. The state's wine industry in April even joined a trade mission to China with Gov. Jerry Brown.

'Half of the drinking population in China isn't even aware that California makes wines, so we're still building awareness,' said Linsey Gallagher, director of international marketing at Wine Institute, a group that represents California wineries. 'If we are cheaper than Old World wines, especially France, then we are poised to benefit.'

Meanwhile, fine-wine merchants in Hong Kong who deal in prestigious bottles from France's Bordeaux and Burgundy regions say the increased duty would be negligible on their business. The bigger problem for them is Beijing's crackdown on smuggling.

Hong Kong has emerged as a regional wine hub, largely because wines are significantly cheaper as the former British colony doesn't charge import duties. The city's merchants say a large portion of the wines sold are bought by wealthy mainland Chinese clients who then hire individuals to smuggle them across the border.

According to Greg Brossard at wine merchant Goedhuis & Co. in Hong Kong, the mainland Chinese government has been more vigilant during the past six months in checking individuals who cross the border multiple times, and is on the lookout for illegal cargo.

The crackdown has damped sales, Mr. Brossard said. 'A part of our business is affected by that,' he said.

JASON CHOW

中国的葡萄酒经销商正在加紧进口来自欧洲的葡萄酒，他们担心，欧盟和中国的一起贸易争端可能会导致进口欧洲葡萄酒的关税大幅上升。中国是世界第五大葡萄酒市场。

相关报道在线葡萄酒零售商也买酒(Yes My Wine)的首席执行长刘君(Jared Liu)说，每家进口公司都在争取尽早完成清关，以免多交税。也买酒的总部位于上海，去年销售了超过人民币4亿元的葡萄酒。刘君说，他的公司未来几周将额外斥资人民币1,000万元，确保保税仓库里的葡萄酒全部办结海关手续。保税仓库是用来储存应征税货物的受到保护的区域。

刘君说：我们不知道关税的增幅具体是多少，但是我们听到的传闻说，政策将在60天内实施，上涨的幅度将非常大。

中国本月早些时候启动了对欧洲葡萄酒的反倾销调查，以此回应欧洲针对中国制造的太阳能板提高关税的举动。

葡萄酒经销商们说，该调查可能导致关税大幅上升。

葡萄酒商正在采取观望的态度。但是刘君说，政府的人告诉他，新的关税措施正在计划之中，于是他采取了上述行动。

不过，提高对欧洲葡萄酒征收的关税对于来自其他地区的制造商来说可能是一件好事，如果贸易争端持续下去的话，这些制造商已经准备好了在中国填补缺口。

中国一直在指责欧洲向中国倾销廉价葡萄酒。目前中国的所有进口葡萄酒都需要征收相当于其申报价值48%的关税。如果中国反倾销调查的结论对欧洲不利，除了这部分关税，中国还会对其征收惩罚性关税。

进口商美夏(Summergate Wines)的首席执行长帕克(Ian Park)说，中国国内的葡萄酒制造商几个月以来一直在抱怨来自欧洲──尤其是西班牙──的廉价葡萄酒入侵中国市场。他说，仅在过去一年，超市的货架上出现了相当于三美元一瓶的西班牙葡萄酒。

他说，这比太阳能板的问题更加严重。

他说，这场贸易纠纷的主要受益者将是智利和新西兰，因为这两个国家均与中国在葡萄酒方面签订了双边自由贸易协定。

也买酒的刘君说，他认为关税会大幅增加，并且自己缴纳的税款估计将比目前增加一倍，从而导致中国消费者不得不转而购买别国葡萄酒。

刘君说，我们开始更多着眼于澳大利亚、美国和智利等国家的供应商。他说，市场是不会变的，人们总是要喝酒的，但市场结构会有很大变动。

据行业数据提供商国际葡萄酒及烈酒研究所(International Wine and Spirit Research)统计，去年，中国进口了2.66亿升瓶装葡萄酒，较上年同期增加了10%，其中超过三分之二的葡萄酒来自欧盟。中国消费者尤其喜爱法国葡萄酒。法国葡萄酒占中国进口葡萄酒的比例为48%。

若中国消费者因增税而将目光偏离欧洲，那么有可能为美国加州开启了机会之门。加州葡萄酒业一直在大力宣传自己，试图打入中国市场。今年4月，加州葡萄酒商生产甚至随同该州州长布朗(Jerry Brown)访华，展开了贸易交流之旅。

代表加州葡萄酒商的组织美国葡萄酒协会(Wine Institute)国际营销总监加拉格尔(Linsey Gallagher)说，中国一半的饮酒者甚至不知道加州还生产葡萄酒，所以我们仍处于让消费者了解我们的自我宣传阶段，如果我们在价格上低于欧洲特别是法国葡萄酒，我们就有了获利的条件。

此外，买卖法国波尔多和勃艮第优质葡萄酒的香港代理商说，增税对其生意的影响可忽略不计。对他们来说，北京打击走私才是更为重要的问题。

香港之所以逐渐成为地区葡萄酒中心，主要原因是这个曾为英国殖民地的城市不收进口税，这里的葡萄酒价格明显便宜很多。香港葡萄酒代理商说，卖出的很大一部分酒都被富有的中国内地客户买走了，这些客户会雇人从香港把酒走私到内地。

供职于葡萄酒代理商Goedhuis & Co.的布罗萨德(Greg Brossard)表示，过去六个月中国政府在检查多次往返于内地和香港的个人方面提高了警惕，并且密切留意非法货物。

布罗萨德说，打击行动妨碍了销售业绩，我们的部分业务因此收到了影响。

JASON CHOW

（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）