Application Exercise 8m: Tariffs on Australian lobster and barley exports
- A brief outline of the ban/ protection measure and what it entails
- Lobsters market (fresh and live – not frozen)
- Ban by China in November 2020 (in the lead up to Christmas) – still in place as of February 2023
- Technically a biosecurity matter
- Entailed extra customs inspections because of concerns over contamination –
- Effectively banned all imports of Australia lobsters into China since they need to be consumed within 72 hours – therefore loads were perishing on the airport tarmacs in China.
- An explanation of how the industry has been impacted in terms of:
- Value of sales / production
- China was Australia’s main buyer of lobster exports (94% of market export sales in 2018/19)
- Worth $544 million in 2019-20
- The trade slumped by 99 per cent in the year to April 2021, compared to the same period the previous year.
- Jobs / employment
- Coastal areas of South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia
- Many small family businesses that have trawlers – large impact
- Local communities particularly impacted
- Any communities reliant on lobster sales
- Low prices have meant reduced income for them (prices fell by about 50% over the period)