China slaps approx 80% tariff on Australian Barley and stops Meat imports

[MajorMitchell]

China is in the opinion of many Australians acting as a bully and using trade to punish Australia for daring to disagree with China's totalitarian Government.
Stopping meat imports from four large meat exporting processors and now an approx 76%~80% tariff on barley from Australia, effectively stopping all barley imports to China from Australia.
Chinese government trade officials are refusing to discuss their actions with the Australian government whilst the Chinese government engages in intelligence activities targeting Australian businesses and government agencies.

[orathaic]

After decades of Western powers forcing China to open up to trade, unfair trade treaties, the use of drugs and addiction to harm the Chinese public. Now they are the 'bullies' for not buying your goods?

Nice story bro.

[MajorMitchell]

I think it was European powers like the British Empire that engaged in gunboat diplomacy with China to accept the opium trade. I'd also diplomatically suggest that Australia is a market for the drug traffickers of the world and not a significant exporter of heroin, meta~amphetimines etc.
Name one unfair trade agreement forced on China by the Australian nation...
I'm quite aware that my fellow Australians have a.yrack record that is far from perfect in both external & internal performance. We do however try to treat our citixens of Chinese ethnicity, our Muslim community our first nations peoples and dissenting minorities.etc better than we did in the past & I think most would choose life here rather than in China, Iran and even Trumptoad's USA.

[Octavious]

I hate to break it to you, Major, but in days of the opium wars you were the British Empire.

Regardless of that, I largely agree. China's response to becoming a major power able to resist being taken advantage of is to become just as bad as the historic imperial powers it used to despise. This is liable to become somewhat worse as it can no longer rely on a booming economy to passify its disenfranchised population, and the global community redoubles its efforts to look for alternatives to Chinese dominated supply lines, putting increasing pressure on the Communist Party dictatorship.

[orathaic]

China has it's problem; but pushing back bullies isn't my major concern. Meanwhile in the 'free trade' developed world; multinationals to sue countries in a parallel court system. Because it turns out globalization run by and for the interest of the wealthiest capitalists never went away.

https://longreads.tni.org/cashing-in-on ... Scg-4U2rTQ

But yes, there are no more unfair trade agreements with China, because China has become big enough to push it's own weight around. Even helping in a crisis: https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-do ... 1584564673

[MajorMitchell]

Yes Orathaic Australia was a British colonial outpost during the opium wars (1839-1860) to which you refer. In 1839 the Sydney penal colony had been established for fifty misery packed years, and the non convict penal colony settlement in South Australia only three years into appropriation of First nations people's lands in that region.
The federation and establishment of the Australian nation occurred some forty years after the end of the opium wars, so I might suggest that you are "drawing a long Bow with a most difficult shot to make at a target that may not exist." if you are asserting that a nation not in existence until forty years post event should because it was a disenfranchised penal colony of the superpower responsible bear responsibility for actions of the superpower forty years before it came into existence as a nation state.

[MajorMitchell]

Focussing on current events, China is engaging in punitive sabre rattling. Targeting our farmers.as with the USA. China is continuing to import iron ore, coal and LNG from Australia.
We'll sell our barley as best we can. Although China purchases about 30% of our exports they're not the only customer in Asia with whom we trade and we'll simply put more effort into trade and cooperation with them as well as other nations around the world.
We can always increase sales of traditional exports plus more uranium to India as a riposte, whilst kow~towing to Beijing and Washington simultaneously

[MajorMitchell]

Perhaps we'll send Scomo to cuddle up to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India and other nations in close proximity to our Chinese friends in Beijing, finishing in Vietnam where he can wave an Aussie wave across the border to.our good friend Ji Xinpeng.

[orathaic]

Yes Orathaic Australia was a British colonial outpost during the opium wars (1839-1860) to which you refer. In 1839 the Sydney penal colony had been established for fifty misery packed years, and the non convict penal colony settlement in South Australia only three years into appropriation of First nations people's lands in that region.
The federation and establishment of the Australian nation occurred some forty years after the end of the opium wars, so I might suggest that you are "drawing a long Bow with a most difficult shot to make at a target that may not exist." if you are asserting that a nation not in existence until forty years post event should because it was a disenfranchised penal colony of the superpower responsible bear responsibility for actions of the superpower forty years before it came into existence as a nation state.

I never said anything g about responsibility. I said how little pity I have that China, a country historically forced to open up to unwanted trade, is now not buying what you want.

Keep crying about how the mean person will not give you money that you have no right to? While ignoring the history you are doomed to repeat.

[MajorMitchell]

I think dearest Orathaic that you misrepresent or exaggerate my comments. I'm not crying about a person who won't give me money to which I have no entitlement.
To use your metaphor more accurately .. I'm annoyed that a regular customer who regularly purchased quality products at competitive prices ( Australian​ exporters are more often "price takers" than "price setters") had arbitrarily stopped purchasing products for political reasons and to do a bit of sabre rattling.
Your suggestion that I'm a whining undeserving grasper of charity to which I am not entitled ignores the reality that notionally in the terms of the metaphor, I'm an honest proper Christian business person.
Or that my response will be to keep selling my products to other customers, behave lawfully and be restrained in any countering actions. For example we are looking at ways to allow thousands of foreign students, many from China, return safely and continue their (mainly) tertiary education in Australia & we won't be slapping punitive tariffs on them.

[MajorMitchell]

Since my last post in this thread Ji Xinpeng's bully boys have returned to a favourite pastime.. intimidating the citizens of Hong Kong and Australian Barley exporters look.to sell.their barley.in markets other than China.
Australians are watching the global iron ore prices with interest. Although we shut down large parts of our economy to stop the spread of CV19 we've kept most large mines going. Brazil is a major supplier of iron ore to China but it takes about 42 days to ship iron ore from Brazil to China v about twelve days from Australia to China, and there have been supply reliability issues.in the past with iron.ore exports from Brazil, eg major landslides at a huge iron ore mine in Brazil a few years back caused significant effects on supply and global prices.
This pundit suggests that with Chinese stockpiles of iron.ore reducing.and Ji Xinpeng's desire to.get the Chinese economy going (& China's demand for iron ore returning) that​ no punitive tariffs will.be put on Australian iron ore exports to China.
Perhaps thermal coal.exports from Australia to China will be targeted by Ji Xinpeng. China can substitute imported thermal coal (low sulphur content) with high sulphur content domestic coal.. not so easy with metallurgical coal