China has stopped placing orders for Australian coal.
Time for retaliation by Australia.
Gee, people don't need as much coal anymore?! Go figure. Nobody could have seen that coming!
And I can see it now - you'll show them!
Tell me, again, how you punish China?!
And why! What have they done to you? Have they violated a contract or a treaty?
Or have they simply acknowledged the law of supply and demand and followed economics?
Why is your country's failure to look down the road China's fault?
We should at least be showing them something, instead of just letting them "kick us around the park in a trash bag" 24/7.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-25/china-and-australia-trade-relations-who-really-holds-the-power/12281608China and Australia — who really holds the power?
A few weeks ago, it was revealed that for the first time in decades, the Chinese economy had lurched into reverse with a 6.8 per cent contraction in the first quarter as the Wuhan lockdown exacted its toll.
And this year, after several years of gradually souring relations, Canberra has found itself increasingly at odds with Beijing over calls for a full-scale inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.
Furious at the actions of its upstart southern trading partner, the Chinese Communist Party has decided to demonstrate its displeasure with a series of coordinated attacks on the commercial ties that bind us.
Once the major driving force behind our prosperity, China is now using trade as a retaliatory weapon.
Last week, however, the unthinkable occurred. China announced it would "streamline" its inspection services for the steel-making ingredient.
But this was a declaration of war, of the trade variety.
For anyone in doubt, read this report in the Global Times(external link), a Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece. It mentions Australia, and no other country, in unflattering terms on 12 occasions.
The answer is that China needs us as much as we need them, at least for the next few years.
This may come as a surprise but while Australia is far and away the world's biggest exporter of iron ore the biggest producer is, in fact, China.
So why do they buy so much from us? It's because our ore is much better quality. It has iron concentration of between 55 and 65 per cent compared with China's 30 per cent.
That makes it cheaper and, when it comes to steel making, far less polluting; an important factor in a country where much of the population is choking.
Where it once viewed Australia as a compliant and convenient source of food and raw materials, the past few weeks clearly have signalled a shift. Beijing's ruling elite now sees us as an errant and ungrateful junior.
In this period of reflection, perhaps it's time we considered our future.#####
Indeed.
. Get manufacturing jobs back from China and 'everywhere' else. Make things ourselves.
. Make companies operating in Australia have all their call centres in Australia.
. Make companies operating in Australia only employ Australian workers, no foreigners on temp visas [except genuine backpackers on special visas]...and limited staff from multinationals and overseas companies of Allies.
. No baby formula unless China buys our exports.
. No steel imports allowed from China, make our own steel instead.
. No car imports from China, some of the brands made there might come as a surprise. Make our own car for the People. Basic car $10,000 or less on the road price. Aircon standard. Nothing fancy, just an engine, simple body with one instrument in the dash, speedo. Model T bambucar.
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