The Nationals are pushing to reclaim the trade portfolio from the Liberals in Scott Morrison’s looming cabinet reshuffle, arguing they are closer to the Australian farmers who have been hit hard by the increasing tensions with China.
The deputy leader of the Nationals, David Littleproud, confirmed the internal push during an interview with Guardian Australia, while also ruling out financial assistance for Australian businesses that have lost money in the widening dispute with Beijing.
Littleproud said there was mounting evidence the Chinese government’s actions against export sectors including barley and wine were motivated by more than technical reasons, and called on Beijing to clarify its reasons “not just for the comfort of the Australian government, but for all their trading partners”.
China’s latest move, unveiled on Thursday, is to impose an additional 6% impost on Australian wine imports based on claims the industry unfairly benefited from government subsidies, on top of the already-announced “anti-dumping” tariffs of as much as 200%.
Morrison is preparing for a pre-Christmas reshuffle that will include appointing a new trade minister because the South Australian Liberal senator Simon Birmingham has been promoted to finance.
Littleproud, the agriculture minister, said food producers were “invariably in National party seats” when asked whether the Nationals were pushing for the portfolio to return to the party for the first time since 2013.
“We’d always want trade to come back to the National party,” Littleproud said.
“I think it fits more comfortably with the National party … because the people we represent rely on it more than any other industry.”
He said his party would respect the outcome of discussions between Morrison and the Nationals leader, Michael McCormack, “but obviously, there’s a view within the National party we’d love to have trade”.
Littleproud – who has been active in responding to how the China tensions have affected farmers throughout the course of this year – would not say if he wanted to be the new trade minister, saying he would “just be happy to serve in any cabinet”.
But he said a change in the allocation of roles would not trigger any major change in the government’s stance on the relationship with China, because the Coalition had made it clear it would not compromise on its values and principles.
Despite the Coalition trumpeting the China-Australia free trade agreement in 2015, Littleproud said Australian governments never told businesses the countries to which they should export. He suggested that exporters had chased the Chinese market because of the higher prices on offer there.
“Basic Business Economics 101 tells you that the higher the risk, the higher the reward as well,” he said.
Littleproud said the government would not be offering compensation to any individuals or any farmers affected by the trade tensions with China.
“We’re in a trading economy. Those are the inherent risks that you take when you trade and you go into business,” he said.
“There is no thought from the government to compensate any individual whatsoever, because, in fact, what’s happened is that much of those commodities have gone into other markets. And so they’re still trading; it’s just not at the premium price that they were getting in China.”
Littleproud acknowledged there was frustration among producers and growers about the China standoff, and that was why the Australian government continued to ask for dialogue at ministerial levels.
But he said he hoped next year brought the finalisation of new trade agreements with the EU and the UK, enrichment of links with Vietnam, and pursuit of opportunities with India even if that did not lead to a formal free trade agreement.
Australian Grape and Wine – a group representing grape and wine producers – said late on Thursday it was deeply disappointed by the Chinese commerce ministry’s new decision to impose additional preliminary tariffs on Australian wine.
“The allegation that Australian grape growers and winemakers receive trade distorting subsidies demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of our sector,” the group’s chief executive, Tony Battaglene, said.
“The OECD ranks Australia as the second least subsidised agriculture sector in the world.”
China’s embassy in Canberra rejected the Australian government’s claims that Beijing appeared to be breaching the spirit and letter of the China-Australia free trade agreement.
An embassy spokesperson said Birmingham’s comments to the Senate were “totally unfounded” because about 95% of imported goods from Australia had zero tariffs.
The spokesperson said the Australian government had rejected more than 10 Chinese investment projects “under the pretext of ambiguous national security or national interests since 2018” – something that had negatively affected trade ties.
Labor’s agriculture spokesperson, Ed Husic, said on Thursday it was time for calm heads to prevail and the government should work with exporters to identify new markets.
“As much as I make that point, I also recognise the challenges in finding new markets that deliver at the same price and the same volume as what we have in China, because we have delivered a heck of a lot of product there,” Husic said.
