Australia will resist pressure from the United States to impose tariffs on imports from China and would instead make decisions based on national interests, said Don Farrell, Minister for Trade and Tourism, in a recent interview with the Australian Financial Review.
“We don’t want to do less business with China; we want to do more,” he said.
“We’ll make decisions about how we continue to engage with China based on our national interests and not on what the Americans may or may not want.”
According to data from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian exports to China were worth A$219 billion in 2023, compared with A$33.5 billion in exports to the United States.
Albanese, whose governing Labor Party won a second term at the May 3 election, confirmed on Monday that Farrell will remain in the trade and tourism portfolio he has held since 2022.
Farrell told the daily newspaper that Australia has lodged a proposed deal with the United States to remove a 10 percent tariff imposed by President Donald Trump in April, but the Australian government would not do a deal “for the sake of doing a deal.”
He added: “We will only do a deal if it’s in our national interest.
“We want a good deal and we are prepared to wait and be patient.”
He also said that Australia will soon finalize a new offer to the European Union in negotiations on a free-trade agreement.
Talks on the proposed deal stalled in 2023 but have been reopened in response to US tariffs. (Xinhua)
