Trade Minister Don Farrell meets Chinese counterpart, barley tariff relief in sight

Australia’s Trade Minister has met his Chinese counterpart for the second time in a fortnight, after no in-person talks since 2019.

EXCLUSIVE

Trade Minister Don Farrell is “very optimistic” the Chinese government is close to dropping its sanctions on Australian barley as strained economic relations continue to thaw.

Senator Farrell held talks in the US with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao on Friday, a fortnight after visiting his counterpart in Beijing for the first in-person meeting between Australia and China’s trade ministers since 2019.

Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Detroit.

The Chinese government removed its ban on Australian timber soon after that trip, and Senator Farrell said he used their US meeting to reiterate “how important it was for the continued removal of all remaining impediments”, including on wine and seafood.

He said China was not “very far away at all” from a verdict on the barley tariffs imposed three years ago, adding he was hopeful the decision would come in time from producers to benefit during the current sewing cycle.

Asked whether Anthony Albanese would accept the Chinese government’s invitation to visit before the sanctions were scrapped, Senator Farrell said the Prime Minister would decide “the circumstances under which he goes”, as he continued to “persevere and persist to get those impediments removed”.

Don Farrell attends the Joint Ministerial Economic Commission meeting at the Chinese Ministry of Commerce with Wang Wentao.

Senator Farrell travelled to Detroit for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting of trade ministers and the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.

He also visited Ford’s headquarters to discuss how Australia could provide the critical minerals required to fuel the electric vehicle revolution.

“They want to invest very heavily in the sector,” Senator Farrell said.

“It doesn’t matter whether you talk to Ford, General Motors, Tesla – all of those companies are very focused on Australia.”

After talks with US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Senator Farrell said Australia would host a critical minerals roundtable connecting Australian miners with US industry leaders from automakers, semiconductor manufacturers and defence companies.

Today, Minister Farrell and I held the 2nd Ministerial meeting of the 🇺🇸-🇦🇺 Strategic Commercial Dialogue. We discussed our shared priorities such as clean energy and supply chains — and we're looking forward to making progress on IPEF tomorrow.https://t.co/77pONxB39gpic.twitter.com/XexvVbe7Q1

— Secretary Gina Raimondo (@SecRaimondo) May 26, 2023

He praised Ms Raimondo and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai for landing a new supply chain agreement through IPEF “in record time”, which will help countries overcome product shortages in the event of another pandemic or war.

Senator Farrell said while the US “should have been part” of the Trans-Pacific Partnership – Donald Trump quit the massive trade deal on his first day as president – he was reassured by America’s renewed economic engagement in the Indo-Pacific.

Asked whether that would continue after next year’s US election, Senator Farrell said he believed President Joe Biden would win a second term, but that “both the major political parties will continue to move in this direction”.

He said Jason Smith, a Trump ally and the head of the powerful US House Ways and Means Committee, told him Republicans “want America to be re-engaged in the Indo-Pacific and understand just how important that is to security and stability in the region”.