China’s $20 billion Australian trade war is over as the lobster trade resumes

The final block in a $20 billion trade embargo on Australian exports to China has been lifted, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announcing he had struck an agreement with Chinese Premier Li Qiang to reopen exports of live lobsters. Albanese finalised the agreement on Thursday morning in a one-on-one meeting with Premier Li on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Laos. “Premier Li and I agreed on a timetable to resume full lobster trade by the end of this year. This, of course, will be in time for Chinese New Year,” Albanese said. China’s imposed $20 billion of trade sanctions as an act of political retribution against the Morrison government in 2020, hitting barley, wine, lobster, timber, major beef exporters, timber and cotton. The bans came in response to then-prime minister Scott Morrison’s push for an independent coronavirus inquiry, with China citing labelling and health certificate requirements as reasons for the beef bans, and claimed biosecurity issues were the reason ...