Federal Trade and Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham says reports that China will curb imports of Australian coal are “discriminatory” and in violation of their trade agreements.
According to Chinese state-owned media, Global Times, Australian coal imports have been added to the growing list of banned products, with Beijing shifting focus to countries signed to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
He urged the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to signal that they are committed to the targets in the Free Trade Agreement and said, as a World Trade Organisation member, they must follow their rules.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed that the Australian government is demanding clarity from the Chinese regime on whether the reports of the coal ban are accurate.
“Those reports have not been clarified by the Chinese government,” Morrison told reporters in Launceston on Tuesday. “If that were the case, that would obviously be in breach of WTO rules and our own free-trade agreements so we would hope that it is not the case.”
Morrison said Australia’s thermal coal exports have a “diverse customer base.”
“China is not our biggest market for thermal coal. That is, in fact, Japan which is more than double the exports we have to China,” he said.
Australian products of barley, beef, lobster, timber, and wine have been either banned, levied, or heavily regulated. China’s grievances list grew after Australia’s foreign investment rules reformed.
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