News
Australia’s Trade Minister says it’s “deeply frustrating” that China refuses to discuss its “unacceptable” targeting of Australian exports, with lamb joining wine, beef, coal, barley and timber on the unofficial hit list and wheat and cotton producers bracing as the trade dispute worsens.
News
South Australian wineries are already looking to cut staff, reduce contracts with grape growers and cancel bottling runs in the wake of harsh tariffs that have halted wine exports to China.
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Wine, coal, barley, lobsters and timber have been targeted in recent months, but it’s iron ore exports to China that should be the main concern for Australia’s economy. And that should prompt a focus on alternatives to underpin future prosperity, argue Rod Tyers and Yixiao Zhou.
China says some Australian coal imports have failed to meet environmental standards, amid reports that 53 bulk carriers holding more than five million tonnes of Australian coal worth $500 million have been stranded off Chinese ports for a month, anchored and unable to unload.
Trade Minister Simon Birmingham is leaving the door open to taking China to the World Trade Organisation over barriers to Australian goods.
China is serious about imposing substantial trade penalties on Australian industry – evident by a Chinese Government crackdown on Australian coal imports, an anti-dumping ruling against Australian barley exporters and deregistration of four Australian beef exporters. But the most telling effect on South Australia will come from a possible anti-dumping finding against Australian wine exporters.
Chinese media reports that authorities are planning to halt imports of Australian wine, lobsters, sugar, coal, copper, barley and timber are “deeply troubling”, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham says.
