Spring
2015
Grains
West
42
Australians made a bigger commitment
to seize new trade opportunities with
China.”
In 2013, Australia–China two-way trade
hit AUD $150.9 billion (CDN $154 billion),
with Australian exports accounting for
AUD $101.5 billion (CDN $103.6 billion)
of that. ChAFTA will eliminate tariffs on
85 per cent of Australian exports to
China when it comes into full force in four
years. While tariffs will vanish outright on
barley and processed products such as
fruit juice and honey, most agricultural
tariffs will be removed in stages. Tariffs of
up to 20 per cent on dairy products will
be removed over four to 11 years, while
12 to 25 per cent tariffs on beef will drop
over a nine-year period. China imposes
generously low wheat tariffs within a
quota unaffected by the deal.
While Australia scored big with
ChAFTA, Canada hasn’t been idle in
Chinese trade relations. In 2013, our
agri-food exports to China were valued
at $5.2 billion, an increase of 3.6 per
cent over 2012. In September 2014,
Ottawa signed a foreign investment
promotion and protection agreement
with China, as well as currency and
trade deals in November worth up to
$2.5 billion.
Alberta trades heavily with China,
accounting for nearly 30 per cent of
total Canadian trade with that country.
China is also the province’s second-
largest market for agri-food exports,
which were valued at $1.5 billion in 2013,
a decrease of 8.2 per cent from 2012.
In 2013, Alberta Agriculture and Rural
Development (AARD) led a government
relations and trade mission to China
that included the formal renewal of
a memorandum of understanding
between AARD and the Chinese ministry
of agriculture.
“Alberta’s products are marketed in a
competitive, globalized marketplace,”
said Alberta Minister of Agriculture
and Rural Development Verlyn Olson.
“We know that we need to continue to
expand market access for our products.
We will continue to participate in trade
and investment missions to build on our
relationships and open new doors for our
products.”
Doug Miller farms grain and cattle
between Acme and Crossfield. He spent
some time working in Australia and
subsequently married an Australian, and
his family now visits his brother-in-law’s
central Queensland farm every couple
years. He cited Canada’s 2013/14 winter
grain handling woes as the country
shooting itself in the foot on international
trade. While ships lined up at port in
Vancouver awaiting rail deliveries of
Prairie grain, Australia experienced no
such difficulties.
“We’re geographically challenged,
whereas in Australia, they’re either under
drought or massive flood,” said Miller.
“They face challenges like we do, but
once their grain is grown, getting it to
port is relatively easy.”
Nelson agreed that certainty of
supply gives Australia an advantage
that complements its close proximity to
China, which is sometimes compared
to Canada’s easy trade access to the
U.S. market. He said Australia also
has a modern agricultural regulatory
platform and the ability to act quickly
and decisively while leveraging all of its
advantages at once.
He pointed to the aftermath of the
melamine poisoning scandal that
rocked the Chinese dairy industry in
2008. Australia presented China with
a ready solution—buy Australian milk.
Marshalling public and private resources,
Australia is now building dairy capacity
that didn’t previously exist to supply
China with safe, high-quality milk.
ChAFTA is also predicted to increase
two-way investment. Chinese investment
in Australian agriculture was already
taking place prior to the deal, said
Howard Morris, managing director of
SeedServ, an agricultural consulting firm
located in the township of Mooloolaba,
north of Brisbane. Though he noted
Australian ownership cannot exceed 49
per cent of any given seed enterprise
