Trade wars: lobster peace between China and Australia
Just as the row over tariffs with the US and the EU intensifies, China is preparing to lift the last retaliatory measure still in place against Australia, Australian Prime Minister Albanese announced. In two years in office, the Australian leader has mended ties, keeping trade with China distinct from geopolitical issues.
Sydney (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Just as the trade war with the United States and the European Union is heating up, with recent EU tariffs on Chinese electric cars and China’s retaliation on EU brandy imports, the People's Republic of China seems to be ending its trade war with Australia.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today said that China was lifting a ban on the lucrative trade in Australian lobsters. His statement came after a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit currently underway in Vientiane, Laos.
This is the latest development in a confrontation that began in 2020-2021 when soured relations with Canberra saw Beijing ban imports or impose duties worth US$ 15 billion on various Australian goods, from wine to timber.
The lobster trade, worth 0,000 a year, was the last major Australian export to remain under sanction and its removal, which is expected to take place by next Chinese New Year, when demand for this product is highest, comes at the end of months of diplomatic efforts.
The trade war with Australia had been triggered in 2020 by Canberra’s crackdown on Chinese foreign influence operations, with the decision to block tech giant Huawei from operating Australia's 5G network and the request for an investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lifting of the ban on lobster imports represents a major political victory for Albanese, who is up for re-election in early 2025. Many lobster producers are in Western Australia, a key battleground state.
More broadly, the Australian prime minister worked hard in his two years in office on this file, trying to insulate vital trade relations with China, Australia's main trading partner, from geopolitical headwinds and tensions over the South China Sea that see Canberra aligned with Washington and its allies.
According to estimates, before the ban, 97.7 per cent of Australian lobster exports were sold in China, i.e. more than 1,600 tonnes per year.
In recent years, some Australian producers found new markets in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, while others have circumvented sanctions by creating a "grey market" for exports to China via Hong Kong, Hanoi, and other Asian cities.
According to researchers at the University of Technology Sydney, the volume of exports to Hong Kong jumped by more than 6,100 per cent when the ban went into place.
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14/11/2022 18:47
16/11/2020 13:50
