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Australia’s wine, lobster exporters see no ‘clear reason’ to let China go, despite prolonged trade spat
- Australian wine and lobsters firms have been some of the hardest hit since trade bans and tariffs were imposed by Beijing in 2020
- President Xi Jinping met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the sidelines of Group of 20 summit last month in Indonesia
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China and Australia mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic and trade ties in December. Post reporter Kandy Wong recently attended the 12th Australia-China Youth Dialogue, and her four-part series looks at various aspects of the relationship between Beijing and Canberra. In part one, she examines the impact of the ongoing trade dispute on Australian wine and lobsters firms.
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Nearly three years on from devastating import tariffs and informal bans that have cost some as much as 70 per cent of their sales, Australia’s wine and lobster exporters still see no “clear reason to let go of a big customer like China”, especially after a recent softening in diplomatic relations.
Australian wine and lobsters firms have been some of the hardest hit since trade bans and tariffs were imposed by Beijing in 2020, in what was widely seen as retaliation for calls for an inquiry into the origin of the coronavirus by the previous administration in Canberra.
But having found various means to maintain some sort of business in the Chinese market, albeit not to the same extent as before, wine and lobster exporters are now hoping for a more conducive trade environment after President Xi Jinping met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last month on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Indonesia.
There’s not a clear reason to let go of a big customer like China, from the business perspective
“There’s not a clear reason to let go of a big customer like China, from the business perspective,” said Simon Wu, president of the Australia-China Friendship Society of Western Australia.
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