Australian exporters are on high alert on Friday as the deadline arrives for traders in China, its biggest market, to stop buying at least seven categories of the country’s commodities.
China’s government has ordered a halt to imports of products including coal, barley, copper ore and concentrate, sugar, timber, wine and lobster, people familiar with the situation said earlier this week. The government has ordered the halt to begin on Friday, one of the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is sensitive.
The industries mentioned as targets of trade action by China represented about 7% of Australia’s total goods exports, or A$27.15 billion ($19.7 billion), in 2019-20, Commonwealth Bank Economics said Friday in emailed comments.
China’s blacklist — delivered verbally to commodities traders — doesn’t cover materials like iron ore or natural gas, where import curbs could unduly damage China’s own economy.
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