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We continue to press China to remove the remaining trade impediments – Australia says
Cows walk through a field during a cattle drive at a farm in Gunnedah, New South Wales. David Gray/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Australia has said it is doing everything possible for China to lift trade restrictions on Australian products.
According to authorities, China’s trade impediments at their height impacted Australian exports worth 20.6 billion Australian dollars ($13.6 billion).
The majority of the trade restrictions Beijing had placed on Australian exports have been lifted since a change in government occurred in Canberra two years ago. However, imports of lobster from Australia are prohibited.
Thus, Australian foreign minister Penny Wong, trade minister Don Farrell and agriculture minister Murray Watt said in a joint statemen noted, “We continue to press China to remove the remaining trade impediments, including for Australia’s rock lobster industry”.
“We continue to press China to remove the remaining trade impediments, including for Australia’s rock lobster industry…The Australian Government’s approach is to cooperate with China where we can, disagree where we must and engage in our national interest,” the communique on the government’s website read.
The statement follows China’s import sanctions from five significant Australian beef processing plants which have been lifted. The Australian government made the announcement on Thursday, May 30, signalling a further development in bilateral ties.
The bans were originally imposed between 2020 and 2022, coinciding with China’s broader restrictions on Australian imports like coal, timber, and wine, which followed Canberra’s call for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19.
Although certain abattoirs were affected by the bans, others were not, allowing Australia to continue exporting beef to China.
With this move, Beijing has now removed restrictions from eight abattoirs, leaving only two still subject to import bans.
