When China imposed punitive tariffs on Australian barley imports last year, grain farmers feared it would decimate a A$2bn industry.
But 12 months after Beijing fired the first shots in a trade dispute with Canberra, growers have limited the damage by opening new markets in Asia and Latin America.
“It is disappointing that we got played for political purposes and we lost the premium you get from selling to China,” said Mic Fels, a farmer from Esperance in Western Australia.
“But Australian barley growers still had a good year because the global market rallied just as tariffs were applied and we found new markets.”
The experience of barley farmers has been replicated in other sectors caught up in what analysts said was a campaign of “economic coercion” waged by Beijing against Canberra. Diplomatic relations have soured since Australia pushed back against rising Chinese aggression in Asia and called for an international investigation into the origin of the coronavirus pandemic.
Coal, beef, wine, timber, cotton and seafood exports all face stiff tariffs or technical barriers, which have disrupted trade patterns and threatened to reverse a decade-long boom in Sino-Australian trade.