Agriculture Minister David Littleproud says China trade ties fine after submarine stoush

Australia’s Agriculture Minister says the new AUKUS alliance should not hinder a two-way trade with China, as the fallout from the submarine deal continues.

Australia’s agriculture minister says he is always willing to engage with an increasingly tetchy Beijing following last week’s British-American submarine deal.

The new AUKUS alliance — representing strengthened military ties between Canberra, London and Washington — has strained relations with France and China.

David Littleproud said despite geopolitical tensions with China, Australia remained a reliable exporter of food and fibre products to the economic powerhouse.

“Our trade with China benefits both our countries and our products have an excellent reputation with Chinese consumers,” the Agriculture Minister told The Weekly Times. “It is one of the reasons our trade has expanded so rapidly since the signing of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement.

“While there have been disruptions in the recent past and we are always ready to engage with China to resolve these issues.”

The new partnership spells the end of the Australian government’s $90 billion project for French-designed submarines to be built in Adelaide.

Both the National Farmers’ Federation and Grain Growers group declined to comment on the repercussions of last week’s new military pact.

But The Weekly Times understands concerns have been raised with the Federal Government over the free trade deal and whether negotiations will be hampered by unhappy French officials. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said that “a lot of questions” must be answered about the collapse of the Australian submarine deal.

“One of our member states has been treated in a way that is not acceptable, so we want to know what happened and why,” the EU leader said.

Australia’s most significant agricultural export to France for the past decade has been grain. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia’s two-way goods and services trade with France was valued at A$9.9 billion, making Paris the 17th largest trading partner with Canberra.

Federal Trade Minister Dan Tehan said he was confident the next round of trade talks with the EU would take place next month. “Obviously for Australia, the European Union is a key and significant market,” he said. “It’s one where France exports more to Australia than Australia exports more to France.”

The AUKUS deal has further strained relations between Australia and China, already declining after Canberra’s calls last year for clarity over origins of the coronavirus pandemic.