There is a covert diplomatic trade war between Australia and China, and it is showing the world how China responds when it takes offence or simply does not like your diplomatic stance.
First, responses from China are random and arbitrary – making it hard to respond.
Second, communication about trade bans is always informal and difficult to clarify.
Third, unexplained checks on products slow trade down or lead to damaged goods.
Examples of this use of checks to pursue trade reprisals include looking for weeds in barley, questionable metallic levels in lobsters, or bugs in timber. An aligned strategy includes the Chinese allegations of Australian producers dumping wine, tariff threats on cotton and talk of curbs on Australian copper and coal.
Iron ore – Australia’s major export – is so far not involved.
For Australia, exports to China dominate the economy. Consider these figures of “the top 5” where Australia exports:
China A$150 billion
Japan $52 billion
South Korea $25 Billion
USA $17 billion
UK $15 billion
The world is watching this trade dispute – and learning how China goes about it.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
Author: Stephen Manallack
Former President, Australia India Business Council, Victoria and Author, You Can Communicate; Riding the Elephant; Soft Skills for a Flat World (published by Tata McGraw-Hill INDIA); Communicating Your Personal Brand.
Director, EastWest Academy Pty Ltd and Trainer/Speaker/Mentor in Leadership, Communication and Cross Cultural Communication.
Passionate campaigner for closer western relations with India.
Stephen Manallack is a specialist on “Doing Business with India” and advisor/trainer on “Cross-Cultural Understanding”. He is a Director of EastWest Academy Pty Ltd which provides strategic advice and counsel regarding business relations with India.
A regular speaker in India on leadership and global communication, his most recent speaking tour included a speech to students of the elite Indian university, Amity University, in Noida. He also spoke at a major Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) global summit, the PR Consultants Association of India in Delhi, the Symbiosis University in Pune and Cross-Cultural Training for Sundaram Business Services in Chennai. He has visited India on business missions on 10 occasions and led three major trade missions there. He provides cross-cultural training – Asia and the west.
View all posts by Stephen Manallack
Into India 