China is swinging its trade stick again, this time against Australian wine as ties between both countries grow increasingly strained.

As the two nations continue to clash over Australian concerns of Chinese meddling in its domestic politics, Australian wine conglomerate Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) announced on May 17 that its shipments to the mainland were being held up by customs.

The company, which imports popular Australian wine brands such as Penfolds and Wolf Blass, said Chinese custom officials imposed new and additional requirements since April this year that only applies to Australian wine and to Australian exporters operating ‘warehouse model’ businesses.

“TWE confirms it is experiencing delays for some of its Australian Country of Origin shipments being cleared by the General Administration of Customs China (GACC) to replenish its inventory levels,” the company said to alcohol trade publication The Drinks Business.

But on May 25, the Chinese Foreign Ministry denied delaying wine imports from Australia.

“According to what we know of the situation, it can be said that the Chinese customs and relevant import inspection and quarantine departments are handling the relevant entry applications according to normal procedures,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Lu Kang.

This comes after Australian foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop met her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at the G20 meeting in Argentina last week to resolve concerns. Australian trade minister Steve Ciobo also made his first trip to Shanghai on May 17 to negotiate delays to TWE. Much is at stake for Australia: China is their most valuable export market, and both countries signed a free trade agreement that will eventually eliminate all import tariffs on Australian wines next year.

This isn’t the first time China is wielding its economic power to express its displeasure at foreign governments. It used similar tactics during the ongoing trade dispute with the United States by increasing custom inspections of American cars and soybean. They also froze licenses on Korean online games last year in response to US deployment of its THAAD missile defence system in South Korea.

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