China to end Australia lobster sanctions, ending spiky spat

VIENTIANE - China will lift sanctions on the lucrative trade in Australian lobster, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Oct 10, heralding the end of a years-long politically charged spat between the two countries.

After meeting Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Laos, Mr Albanese said both had agreed to a “timetable to resume full lobster trade by the end of this year”.

Since 2017, Beijing has slapped levies on almost US$15 billion (S$19.61 billion) worth of Australian exports, from wine to lobsters to timber.

After years of efforts to improve relations, the lobster trade – worth almost half a billion US dollars a year – is one of the last Australian exports to remain under Chinese sanctions.

China denied a raft of punitive tariffs were politically motivated.

But the measures coincided with an Australian crackdown on Chinese influence operations, a decision to block Huawei from running Australia’s 5G network, and Canberra’s barbed call for an

investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The decision comes as Beijing faces deepening trade wars with Europe and the United States, which have slapped punitive tariffs on China’s electric vehicle exports, semiconductors, solar panels and a range of other goods.

The Oct 10 announcement is a significant political win for Mr Albanese, as he eyes a re-election in early 2025.

The centre-left leader has spent much of his two-plus years in office trying to isolate the vital trade relationship with Beijing from still-unresolved political differences over rights and the rule of law.

It is also a win for Australia’s lobster exporters, most of whom are based in Western Australia, a key electoral battleground.

Mr Albanese said the sanctions would be lifted in time for the Chinese New Year, when luxury goods like lobster are in hot demand. AFP