US-China deals ‘must not erode our interests’, says Simon Birmingham

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has urged the incoming Biden administration to ensure any new trade deals struck with China do not undermine the interests of Australia.

Trade and Finance Minister Simon Birmingham does not expect a “dramatic change” in America’s trade posture during Joe Biden’s presidency. Picture: Gary Ramage

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has urged the incoming Biden administration to ensure any new trade deals struck with China do not undermine the interests of Australia or other US partners and is hopeful the president-elect will inject more consistency into foreign policy.

Addressing The Australian’s Strategic Forum, Senator Birmingham also said the challenge for Joe Biden would be to build consensus on reforming multilateral institutions like the World Trade Organisation and not simply identifying problems, as Don­ald Trump had done.

The WTO’s appeals process has been in a deadlock in recent years after Mr Trump refused to approve replacement judges to its appellate body but there is a push from Australia and others for the US to be part of a WTO reform process already under way.

“A Biden administration, they are to tackle those grievances the Trump administration has rightly identified. It needs to also be about building support for those grievances and even more importantly building support for the solutions to those grievances,” Senator Birmingham said.

“That’s where US leadership and their administration can perhaps make the most tangible difference in successfully extending and building alliances that will get results in terms of improving and fixing those challenges in multilateral institutions like the WTO, not simply highlighting the problems and leading a circumstance that potentially degrades over time.”

While Senator Birmingham did not expect to see a “dramatic change” in US trade posture or in the types of tariffs imposed on America and China by each other, he hoped there might be more consistency and predictability from a Biden administration on trade and foreign policy.

After the Trump administration struck some “questionable” and “unusual agreements” with China, Senator Birmingham hoped Mr Biden would abide by WTO rules. “If they are striking trade agreements with China, they’re trade agreements that don’t undermine partners, that don’t strike special terms for the US contrary to those WTO commitments that both the US and China are party to,” he said.

China committed to buy $US200bn in extra goods from the US over the next two years under phase one of an agreement, in a move that sparked fears Australian exporters would miss out on opportunities in the Chinese market.

Tensions between Australia and China have escalated since then, after the Morrison government led calls for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19.

Joe Hockey, Australia’s former ambassador to the US, said Mr Trump would be a “force of nature on the right of politics” at home and abroad for at least the next four years.

He said Mr Biden faced not being able to get a large chunk of his agenda through congress if he did not get control of the Senate.

Two run-off Senate elections will be held in Georgia in early January that will likely determine which party controls the chamber, which Mr Hockey said would be critical for Mr Trump if he campaigned in those races and the Republican Party won.

“He’s going to be the Australian equivalent of a leader of the opposition right up until the mid-terms. Joe Biden is going to face twin threats of a very restless left, progressive wing of the Democratic Party but also an incredibly formidable opponent that never goes away,” Mr Hockey told the forum.