Australian hopes for more China trade may be premature

Significance

In mid-April, Beijing said that it would ‘review’ the high tariffs it imposed on Australian barley shipments in 2020, an issue which Australia had taken to the WTO, and this has boosted hopes for a normalisation of economies ties.

Impacts

• Efforts to use FDI to improve bilateral relations will be hampered by Beijing’s interest in sensitive industrial areas.
• Diversification of exports into other Asian markets will not end Australia’s economic reliance on China.
• Canberra’s efforts to separate its economic and security interests are coming under pressure from its own allies as well as Beijing.