China-Australia relations: lobster traders look closer to home to offset Beijing’s ban

Name: Will iron ore be dragged into the ongoing China-Australia trade conflict?
Uploaded: 2020-12-27T06:10:51.000Z
Duration: 9 min 18 s
Description: Will iron ore be dragged into the ongoing China-Australia trade conflict?

Beijing imposed a near-total import ban on Australian lobster as part of a broader politically charged ‘shadow trade war’

The dispute has seen more than a dozen Australian sectors hit with import levies, with the barley and wine industries particularly badly affected

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Australia’s rock lobster exports are worth half a billion US dollars a year, and in normal times, 94 per cent of them go to China. Photo: AFP

Agence France-Presse

Published: 2:10pm, 27 Dec 2020Updated: 9:25am, 28 Dec 2020

Even in the scorching Australian summer sun, long queues of customers snake around Fremantle harbour – a soothing sight for beleaguered local fishermen trying to replace lost business with China.

Australia’s rock lobster exports are worth half a billion US dollars a year – and in normal times, 94 per cent of them go to China.

But all that changed a few weeks ago, when Beijing imposed a near-total import ban on lobster, part of a broader politically charged “shadow trade war”.

“It has affected us drastically,” third-generation fisherman Fedele Camarda said. “Our income has been reduced considerably.”

Relations between Canberra and Beijing have been in free-fall for most of this year, with China hitting out at a list of issues including Australia’s call for an inquiry into the origins of Covid-19 and a ban on Huawei’s participation in the nation’s 5G network.

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Will iron ore be dragged into the ongoing China-Australia trade conflict?

The row has seen more than a dozen Australian sectors hit with import levies, with the barley and wine industries particularly badly hit. Exporters stand to lose as much as US$2-4 billion worth of sales.