Farmers celebrate China’s cut to grain tariff but major exporter still ‘locked out’

China’s decision to drop an 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley is “great for both nations”, says West Australian grain grower Barry West.

Grain growers across Australia bore the brunt of a high-profile trade war between the countries, which culminated in China hitting barley exporters in 2020.

On Friday, China announced it had dropped the tariff.

The decision three years ago sent barley prices nosediving overnight with grain growers counting the cost.

Growers pleased

Mr West, from Kulin, welcomed the decision.

“I’m glad for the growers of Australia, particularly in WA,” he said.

“We export a lot to China and I feel good for the Chinese, they’ll be getting the best quality barley in the world … it’s great for both nations.”

Mr West said the 2020 announcement caused plenty of stress.

“We had a lot of barley we’d just finished putting in the ground, we were shocked,” he said.

“The price plummeted by $40 a tonne overnight and we had 50 per cent of our program as barley at the time.”

Further southern near Kojonup, Mark Taylor said growers had revised how much space in paddocks was dedicated to barley.

“Barley was about 40 per cent of our business before the tariff, it’s dropped to below 30,” he said.

Mr Taylor said the silver lining from the ban was unlocking new markets domestically.

“We accessed other options that we previously didn’t have to go into,” he said.

“They’ll be in the mix in future.

“They’re all going to be competitive.”

Major exporter still banned

At the height of barley exports in 2018, the trade to China was worth $1 billion. 

What remains a concern for growers is the ban on WA’s largest grain exporter to China, CBH.

China blocked CBH grain imports in September 2020 after it claimed customs found pests in a shipment of barley. 

Great Southern grain marketer Richard Avery said that remained unresolved. 

“CBH grain hasn’t been able to get in since,” he said.

“We’ve still got our biggest exporter locked out of China, we need that issue resolved for WA growers to have a lot of confidence.”

Trade Minister Don Farrell said China’s decision to remove tariffs on Australian barley was just the first of many steps towards free trade.

Mr Farrell said the tariff cost billions in lost trade between the countries.