A VICTORIAN farmer has called on the Australian grains industry to lobby the Government to not back a US-led push to pursue action against China for failing to allow trade liberalization.
Chris Kelly, Woomelang, said he felt Australian grain growers needed to recognise the strong relationship they have with China and to push the government not to simply act in unison with the US because of the close historical ties between the two nations.
“Rather than simply take the US line because we always do I think we should have a look at what is best for ourselves in terms of trade and protect our relationship with China, which is by far and away our biggest buyer of several grain commodities,” Mr Kelly said.
His comments were backed up in recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data that showed that of over 1.5 million tonnes of barley shipped from Australia in March and April as much as 90 per cent was headed to China.
Mr Kelly said he did not want to enter debate about other political issues surrounding China but was speaking purely from a trade perspective.
“There may be other tensions there but we need to look at this purely as a trade issue.
“In this case just following the US line is not something that is beneficial to us – I just don’t think that participating in this action is of benefit to Australian grain growers.
“I shudder to think if China suddenly stopped buying Australian barley, I would estimate I would probably be faced with a $30 a tonne fall in prices at my local silo.”
Australia’s peak grain bodies have not commented on whether they think Australia should be involved in any action against China on the trade front.