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.
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 is set to impose duties on Australian wine of between 107 and 212 per cent from tomorrow following an “anti-dumping” inquiry announced as part of a suite of measures in past months targeting Australian exports.
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.