Explainer | Why has the China-Australia relationship deteriorated into ‘trade war 2.0’?

Name: Australia and China cooperation too valuable for 'nonsensical' decoupling
Uploaded: 2020-06-30T22:00:14.000Z
Duration: 7 min 34 s
Description: Australia and China cooperation too valuable for 'nonsensical' decoupling

China imposed new import tariffs on Australian barley and banned beef imports from four firms in May

China is Australia’s biggest trading partner, but relations have been on a steady decline for at least the last five years

Reading Time:5 minutes

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Two-way trade between China and Australia was worth around A$235 billion (US$161 billion) between July 2018 to June 2019. Photo: AFP

Su-Lin Tan

Published: 6:00am, 1 Jul 2020Updated: 11:21am, 20 Oct 2020

It has been over a month since China initiated a trade dispute with Australia by announcing tariffs on barley and banning beef from four firms, and Chinese Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan still has not returned any of the phone calls from his Australian counterpart, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham.

China first suspended beef imports from four major meat processing plants in Queensland and New South Wales, before confirming a tariff of 80.5 per cent on Australia’s barley exports following the conclusion of its anti-dumping investigations.

Both were devastating blows to the respective industries, and while seemingly alarming considering two-way trade between the two countries was worth around A$235 billion (US$161 billion) between July 2018 to June 2019, relations have been on a steady decline for at least the last five years.

On one hand, trade between the two countries has been roaring with more than a 20 per cent annual growth between 2018-19, but on the other, an Australian prime minister has not made a state visit to China since Malcolm Turnbull in April 2016. Current Prime Minister Scott Morrison has not visited since replacing Turnbull in August 2018, although Trade Minister Birmingham did attend the China International Import Expo in Shanghai in November.

07:34

Australia and China cooperation too valuable for 'nonsensical' decoupling

Relations have been straining for some time, with tensions bubbling below the surface, even during the much-anticipated visit by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to Sydney and Canberra in early 2017.

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