China has boldly gloated that Australian wine exports will plummet under new tariffs - wiping millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs from the industry - while claiming the only reason they bought our bottles was because they were 'cheap'. The claim was made in a piece by the Global Times, a mouthpiece for the communist government, after China imposed additional 6.3 per cent duties on Australian wine from Friday. The Beijing-sponsored newspaper said the only reason Chinese consumers bought Australian wine was because it's 'cheap', and would now look to buy wine from other countries such as Chile. The article, which was published on Thursday, claims the new trade tariffs could cause a wine and grape 'glut' in Australia when demand from Chinese importers drops .