Trade Tensions Between Australia and China Continue to Increase

The tension between Australia and China moved another notch higher with an official notice from China’s Customs Authority on 12/3, which notified Australian exporters that they had detected a pest (with no further specifics) in shipments of logs from South Australia and Tasmania and would therefore not accept any additional shipments from those areas. Timber from South Australia and Tasmania are joining a list of banned timber imports which previously included Queensland and Victoria. In their notice Chinese authorities said it was taking the measure in order to “prevent the pests entering China and to protect our country’s forestry and ecological safety”. The Custom Authority also added 2 additional meat packing companies to their list which brings that to a total of 8. In response Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said, there was “mounting evidence” Beijing’s actions were not based on technical issues. Littleproud went onto say, “The Australian Government will never compromise our values and principles or our sovereignty. It is imperative that China provides not only comfort to Australia but to all their trading partners that this is not the case. The way to do this is through dialogue and we stand ready to engage.”