Trade Minister Don Farrell’s empty-handed return from China has been met with disappointment from exporters and the Coalition alike.
Senator Farrell mentioned final week’s go to to Beijing – the place he had talks with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao – was “successful and constructive” and marked a significant step in re-stabilising the connection that has been underneath pressure since 2020.
But his opposition counterpart Kevin Hogan expressed “deep disappointment” that the go to had not delivered any reduction from China’s “punitive, unfair and illegal trade sanctions on Australian exports”.
After years of strained diplomatic and commerce relations, final week’s talks marked the primary in-person commerce dialogue since 2019.
Beijing is within the strategy of reviewing its 80 per cent tariffs on Australian barley following Australia’s suspension of a World Trade Organisation software earlier this yr to overturn the impediments.
Senator Farrell mentioned Australians shouldn’t count on the tariffs to “mysteriously disappear”, noting there was a course of concerned.
Instead, he mentioned he hoped the tariffs could be eliminated inside months, paving the way in which for impediments on Australian wine and lobster to even be wound again.
“We’re hopeful that that decision will remove those tariffs, and then we can get back to work on normal trade with barley,” Senator Farrell advised ABC Radio.
“What I’ve said to the minister is that this process is the process we’d like to use to then resolve the issue of wine, but there are other issues like biosecurity issues we need to work through in respect of other products like meat, like lobsters.
“My objective in this process is to simply persevere and persist so that at the end of the day, all trade impediments are removed and we’re back to a stable relationship with China.”
Given the shortage of concrete bulletins of breakthroughs, Mr Hogan mentioned he had hoped for extra.
“I publicly supported the Trade Minister’s visit to China as a positive step in the trade relationship thaw but nevertheless join the many exporters who are disappointed that it delivered no dividend in sanction relief,” he mentioned in an announcement.
“I join with the Trade Minister in asking the Chinese government to go one step further from enhance dialogue and remove the sanctions.”
Mr Hogan acknowledged the go to itself was a step ahead and mentioned he regarded ahead to assembly with Senator Farrell to get a “first-hand account of his visit and clarity on the next steps towards the complete removal of the trade sanctions”.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
