Beijing’s boomerang ban on Australian coal

The Chinese Communist Party’s use of economic muscle to bully other nations into political acquiescence is backfiring when it comes to China’s de-facto ban on imports of Australian coal.

Bad tempered steel

A recent report in China’s Global Times newspaper suggests Chinese steel mills are imposing discriminatory cuts to exports to Australia as a new element in the continuing campaign of economic coercion against us.

Global fall in foreign investment reflects rise in geopolitical tensions

Foreign direct investment is increasingly being seen as a threat to national security as relations between China and the West deteriorate. Twenty-five nations imposed new security regulations controlling investment inflows during the past year.

Global shipping bounces back

The pandemic prompted calls for greater self-sufficiency, but global shipping is back to pre-COVID proportions, although fissures in international relations threaten to undermine this recovery.

Australia’s asymmetric advantages in global trade

Australia’s phenomenal resource endowment has once again seen it through a difficult period in the global economy, with supercharged commodity markets siphoning some of the stimulus spending by the world’s major economies into Australian pockets.

Climate cooperation between China and the West may be a mirage

Climate change has emerged as a rare zone of cooperation and civility between China and the West this year, but it remains to be seen if this will last through to, or beyond, the 26th UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November.

China still needs Australian iron ore

It must be galling to Chinese authorities that, notwithstanding their determination to punish Australia for its many perceived sins, their annual imports from Australia are running at near record levels.

An Australian head of the OECD

The appointment of Australian Mathias Cormann as the new Secretary-General of the OECD has important implications for Australia and China.

No easy fix for Australia’s supply-chain dependence on China

Despite China’s trade war against Australia, our dependence on Chinese supplies is so broad that finding alternative suppliers remains a major challenge.

Government funding won’t stop manufacturing’s decline

The federal government sees the revival of Australian manufacturing as a matter of economic sovereignty, yet the annual national accounts highlight the enormity of the task it confronts.

More than ore

Despite current political tensions, Australia’s non-traditional exports to China, including the now-threatened shipments of wine, have enjoyed runaway success since the China–Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) was concluded in 2015.

Don’t underestimate Australia-US trade relations

The idea that Australia faces a tension between its security alliance with the United States and its economic relationship with China overlooks the importance of its economic relationship with the United States.