China-Australia relations: barley dispute going to WTO as headwinds loom in Australia’s alternative markets

Australian government will escalate the resolution process by asking World Trade Organization to establish a dispute-settlement panel

A trade resolution at WTO could take years. Meanwhile, Australia has looked to new markets for its barley exports, particularly Saudi Arabia and Mexico

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A stockpile of barley awaits shipping at a grain facility in Victoria, Australia. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 4:30am, 17 Mar 2021Updated: 5:33am, 17 Mar 2021

Informal talks between beleaguered trading partners China and Australia over their anti-dumping dispute involving barley have hit a wall, while some of Australia’s redirected barley exports could face headwinds in the Middle East.

The Australian government said on Monday that it will escalate the resolution process by asking the World Trade Organization (WTO) to establish a dispute-settlement panel after failed attempts to resolve the complaint informally with China in late January.

Relations between the two countries remain frosty, particularly after several major Australian exports such as coal, log timber and wine were unofficially banned last year. Over the weekend, in a statement to the United Nations, China urged Australia to close its offshore detention centres, alleging human rights violations there amid allegations of its own human rights abuses involving Uygurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang province.

Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan also said on Monday that he had yet to make contact with his Chinese counterpart – new commerce minister Wang Wentao – as the communication breakdown experienced by his predecessor Simon Birmingham last year has continued.

The [Australian] Government is committed to defending the interests of Australian barley producers

Dan Tehan, Australian trade minister

“While there was constructive engagement on both sides, these consultations did not resolve our concerns,” Tehan said in a statement. “Australia’s barley trade with China represents a great deal of hard work on both sides over many years. The anti-dumping and countervailing duties imposed on Australian barley exports are not consistent with China’s WTO obligations.

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