- Australia wants to hash out its disputes with China through dialogue, but is willing to be “patient,” Canberra’s trade minister said in an exclusive interview.
- Since Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government in April 2020 called for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19, Beijing has imposed crippling tariffs and unofficial import bans on a host of Australian exports, from wine and barley to lobsters and coal.
- The relationship has only soured further this year. In May, China suspended a bilateral economic dialogue shortly after the Morrison government tore up two Belt and Road Initiative deals between the state of Victoria and Beijing. In June, the two sides took tariff grievances to the World Trade Organization within days of each other.
- Yet some state governments and corporate executives have warned about unnecessarily provoking their top export destination and hurting the Australian economy.