The new Trade Minister Dan Tehan has written to his Chinese counterpart in a fresh attempt to re-establish lines of communication and convince Beijing to halt its mounting campaign of trade punishment against Australia.
Key points:
- Several Australian ministers tried to contact their Chinese counterparts but were ignored
- Mr Tehan says he wrote to China's new Commerce Minister because "the turnover might offer opportunity"
- He would not say whether he pressed him to stop blocking Australian goods
Australia and China have been mired in multiple trade disputes as the bilateral relationship deteriorates.
Beijing has hit Australia's wine and barley industries with devastating tariffs, as well as blocking or delaying some Australian lobster, beef, cotton and timber exports.
Around 60 ships carrying Australian coking coal also remained effectively stranded off the Chinese coast due to an informal ban imposed by Chinese authorities.
Several Australian Government Ministers — including the former Trade Minister Simon Birmingham — have repeatedly tried to contact their Chinese counterparts, but have been ignored.
Mr Tehan — who took over the Trade portfolio in December — said he wrote to China's new Commerce Minister Wang Wentao because the turnover might offer an opportunity to break the impasse.
"My hope is that with the appointment of a new Minister in China, at the same time as my appointment, that we will be able to get a dialogue in the relationship happening again," he said.
"I'm very keen to start a dialogue with Minister Wang but it's something I'm happy to be patient for in waiting for a reply and then seeing what form that dialogue takes."
'We'd like this issue resolved as quickly as possible'
Mr Tehan would not say whether he pressed the new minister to stop blocking Australian goods, saying only that it was a "detailed letter setting out a strong willingness to engage with China on many issues."
But he stressed the Federal Government wanted Beijing to lift its coal ban immediately, pointing out that crew members on dozens of carriers remained in limbo while ship operators and coal suppliers try to find new buyers.
"We have made it as clear as we possibly can to the Chinese Government that we'd like this issue resolved as quickly as possible, because there are commercial arrangements, and equally as important, if not more important, because of the welfare of the crew on these ships," he said.
The Government's frustrations over China's barrage of trade strikes bubbled to the surface late last year, with the former Trade Minister Simon Birmingham taking to the Senate floor to lay out a long list of complaints about discrimination against Australian products.
Australia has already challenged China's barley tariffs at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), labelling Beijing's allegations of dumping false.
In December, Prime Minister Scott Morrison also hinted Australia might also take action at the WTO on coal, saying if Chinese authorities were directing power plants not to purchase Australian coal "then that would obviously be in breach of WTO rules."
Mr Tehan stressed the Government was focussed on settling the coal dispute bilaterally but didn't rule out future action, saying "if we think there is a case to take to the WTO and that might help resolve the issue — obviously that is something we will look at."
And he delivered a scathing assessment of the WTO's performance more broadly, saying the "current feeling" about the body was that it had "become extraordinarily difficult if not impossible to pursue multilateral liberalisation" through the organisation.
Warning to Biden administration
Mr Tehan also fired a warning shot at the new Biden administration over its plans to tackle climate change.
Joe Biden has overhauled US climate policy since coming to office, re-joining the Paris Agreement, setting a target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and pledging to press for global action to urgently cut emissions.
Analysts are predicting the new administration will ramp up pressure on the Morrison Government on climate policy.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has refused to commit Australia to a 2050 net zero target, although he has called that goal "achievable."
Mr Biden's election manifesto also declares he will "impose carbon adjustment fees or quotas on carbon-intensive goods from countries that are failing to meet their climate and environmental obligations," raising the prospect of Australian exports to the US being hit with new tariffs.
Mr Tehan said he was confident both countries could work together on climate policy, but said Australia "wouldn't want to see, and will be working actively to ensure we don't see, carbon tariffs used as a new form of protectionism."
"We want to make sure the engagement on climate change and meeting emission reduction targets is done in way which is constructive for global free trade and is constructive for the trade investment relationships between nations," Mr Tehan said.
He also said he welcomed the Biden administration's plan to re-engage with multilateral organisations like the WTO, and said Australia would continue to press the United States to consider re-joining the massive CP-TPP trade deal abandoned by Donald Trump.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiamh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIxLTAxLTIzL3RyYWRlLW1pbmlzdGVyLWRhbi10ZWhhbi13cml0ZXMtdG8tbmV3LWNoaW5lc2UtY291bnRlcnBhcnQvMTMwODI2NjjSASdodHRwczovL2FtcC5hYmMubmV0LmF1L2FydGljbGUvMTMwODI2Njg?oc=5
2021-01-22 14:02:00Z
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