
Australia on Sunday raised concern that China is considering imposing hefty tariffs on imports of Australian barley, just as tensions rise between the world’s second-biggest economy and one of its biggest suppliers of farm products.
According to a report at Reuters, Australia is by far China’s top supplier of barley, exporting about $980 million to $1.3 billion worth of the grain a year. China takes more than half of Australia’s barley exports.
Ties have frayed between Canberra and Beijing, exacerbated by a push by Australia for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus outbreak.