LAUNCESTON, Australia—China is paying a heavy toll for its efforts to punish Australia by banning or restricting certain commodity imports, while conversely, Australia seems so far to have avoided any serious financial ramifications.
Coal is the highest-profile Chinese target in the Australia row. Beijing effectively all but banned imports from Australia as part of its efforts to pressure Canberra on several issues, ranging from Australia’s call for an international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic to the decision to block Huawei from Australia’s 5G network rollout.
