Australia will challenge China at the World Trade Organization over Beijing’s imposition of hefty tariffs of its barley exports, according to Bloomberg. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said, on Wednesday, the government had advised Beijing of its intention “to request formal consultations with China.”
- Australia says tariffs imposed by China are not underpinned by facts and evidence and believes WTO is the right avenue to take its case
- On Wednesday, China reiterated calls for Australia to act to improve the strained relations.
- China imposed about 80% tariffs on Australian barley in May after accusing it of dumping the grain and subsidizing its growers.
- China’s relations with Australia worsened this year after the latter called for an international inquiry into coronavirus’s origins.
- Australia-China strained relations date back to 2018 when Canberra barred Huawei Technologies from building its 5G network on national security grounds.
- WTO dispute settlements can often be a drawn-out process, and the results are not expected to be known for months at least.
The Australian dollar is currently declining against the Yuan. AUDCNY is down 0.03%
