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  1. #1
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Australian Wine Producers: Take Note!

    China’s Ban on Taiwan Pineapples Flops as New Buyers Step In




    China’s Ban on Taiwan Pineapples Flops as New Buyers Step In

    By Betty Hou (Bloomberg)
    Fri, August 6, 2021, 8:30 AM

    (Bloomberg) -- China’s surprise ban on pineapple imports from Taiwan five months ago was widely viewed as an attempt to undermine President Tsai Ing-wen’s standing with a political constituency. Trade data show the move has produced anything but the desired effect.
    First-half numbers collected by Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture show growers of the fruit on the island have fared better since China blocked imports starting March 1, as sympathetic Japanese shoppers stepped in to provide support. Shipments to Japan surged more than eightfold to 16,556 tons in the four months through June from a year ago. A domestic campaign to drum up demand also helped.

    The helping hand from Japanese importers has come as a pleasant surprise for Taiwan’s rattled farmers who were bracing for a plunge in prices following the move by China, which termed it as a normal precaution to protect biosecurity. The spiky fruit is among a long list of products from Australian wine to coal and lobster China has targeted for sanctions to help gain leverage in trade disputes.
    “The bleeding was stopped before it even began,” said Chen Li-i, an official at the Council of Agriculture in Taipei.

    Japan has now replaced China as the major overseas destination for Taiwan’s pineapples. While it’s unclear how long the ban will last -- the shift may well reverse once the restrictions are lifted -- the humble tropical fruit has become an unlikely symbol of defiance in the region’s geopolitical intrigues. Amid all the sabre-rattling by Beijing, Japan and the island democracy have expressed a broad desire to forge closer ties. Leaders in Tokyo see their own security directly linked to that of Taiwan, which China asserts is its territory.

    Pineapples are an important source of income for farmers in central and southern Taiwan. Around 11% of the tropical fruit harvested in Taiwan are sold overseas. Until the ban, they were almost entirely shipped to China.
    “Export orders are looking unexpectedly good,” said Chiao Chun, chief executive officer of Harvest Consultancy Co. in Taipei. “This really was a crisis turned into an opportunity.”

    Besides the help from Japan, an increase in domestic demand fueled by a “save the farmers” campaign on social media rallied local shoppers in support of growers. Even President Tsai pitched in a day after China’s ban took effect.

    Farmers also received passionate backing from local businesses. Restaurants across the island rushed in to add a pineapple-infused sweet twist to all sorts of dishes ranging from shrimp balls, fried rice and even the classic beef noodle soup. Taiwan Railways Administration introduced special edition lunch boxes with pineapples as one of the side dishes.

    As a result, domestic prices of the fruit jumped 28% to an average NT$22.1 (80 cents) per kilogram in the March-June period, a three-year high. The total value of the pineapples sold locally rose 17%, according to data provided by the farm council’s Chen.
    “Higher prices driven by strong domestic demand led to more profit for the farmers,” Chen said.

    One key question is whether the uptick in overseas demand is sustainable. Exporters cite concerns over Japan’s stringent quality requirements and consumer preferences for smaller, less-sweet varieties than the pineapples typically grown in Taiwan.
    But the Chinese ban leaves Taiwan with little choice but to review its export markets for the fruit, according to Young Fu-fan, a grower in the southern county of Tainan.

    “Farmers can’t expect to make ‘easy money’ from China anymore,” he said.
    Majestically enthroned amid the vulgar herd

  2. #2
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    Actually, Australia has a most unlikely ally in it's tariff hit produce exports to China- Hong Kong, PRC. HK has it's own Customs, and quite a lot of aussie lobsters etc are making their way into China through the 'grey market'- via HK. That has cushioned the blow a bit.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Actually, Australia has a most unlikely ally in it's tariff hit produce exports to China- Hong Kong, PRC. HK has it's own Customs, and quite a lot of aussie lobsters etc are making their way into China through the 'grey market'- via HK. That has cushioned the blow a bit.
    HK also has zero tariff on wine.

  4. #4
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    It's a shame that the graph is completely useless. I'd love to see volume of import to China in 2020 and the volume increase/decrease to Japan and Hong Kong.

  5. #5
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheRealKW View Post
    It's a shame that the graph is completely useless
    ...complaint forwarded to Bloomberg...

  6. #6
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    noted.

  7. #7
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Australia flags democracies' trade swing from China to India


    Australia India

    FILE - In this Nov. 18, 2014, file photo, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, waves as he is escorted by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott as they leave the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia. An India-Australia free trade agreement would signal the "democratic world's tilt away from China," trade envoy and former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has written on Monday, Aug. 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, Pool, File)

    By ROD McGUIRK (AP)
    Mon, August 9, 2021, 12:51 PM

    CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian special envoy and former Prime Minister Tony Abbott said a free trade agreement between his nation and India would signal the “democratic world’s tilt away from China.”

    Abbott visited New Delhi last week as Australia’s special trade envoy for India as the Australian government gives priority to sealing a bilateral trade deal.
    In an opinion piece likely to anger Beijing that that was published in The Australian newspaper on Monday, Abbott said the “answer to almost every question about China is India.”

    “With the world’s other emerging superpower becoming more belligerent almost by the day, it’s in everyone’s interests that India take its rightful place among the nations as quickly as possible,” Abbott wrote.

    “Because trade deals are about politics as much as economics, a swift deal between India and Australia would be an important sign of the democratic world’s tilt away from China, as well as boosting the long-term prosperity of both our countries,” Abbott added.
    Abbott was prime minister when China and Australia finalized a bilateral free trade deal which took effect in 2015. He also hosted a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping a year earlier.

    Relations have since soured over issues including Australia banning Chinese telecom giant Huawei from major communications infrastructure projects, outlawing covert foreign interference in Australian politics and calling for an independent investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Abbott accused Beijing of “capricious boycotts” of Australian exports including coal, barley, wine and seafood that demonstrated Chinese use of trade as a “strategic weapon.”

    “The basic problem is that China’s daunting power is a consequence of the free world’s decision to invite a communist dictatorship into global trading networks,” Abbott said.

    “China has exploited the West’s goodwill and wishful thinking to steal our technology and undercut our industries; and, in the process, become a much more powerful competitor than the old Soviet Union ever was, because it’s now a first-rate economy that’s rapidly developing a military to match; and spoiling for a fight over Taiwan, a pluralist democracy of 25 million that’s living proof there’s no totalitarian gene in the Chinese DNA,” Abbott added.

    The Chinese Embassy in Australia did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

    Negotiations between India and Australia on a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement began in 2011 but were suspended in 2015.
    India is particularly concerned by freer trade in Australian farm exports. New Delhi’s demands for less restrictive visas for Indian workers is a major sticking point for Australia.

    Australia’s current Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi last year upgraded the bilateral relationship with a raft of agreements that strengthened defense ties and committed both nations to expanding trade.

    Abbott visited India last week to “propel our economic relationship to its full potential, to the mutual benefit of the Indian and Australian people,” Australian High Commissioner to India Barry O’Farrell said in a statement.

  8. #8
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    Swings and roundabouts - China will find out quite quickly that it isn't an indispensable customer - the more they renege on contracts and deals, let their petty-politics interfere with trade . . . no-one will trust them in the long run and business requires stability

  9. #9
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    Chinese use of trade as a “strategic weapon.
    Trade is a strategic weapon. Just ask the USA.

  10. #10
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    Not to the same extent . . . and please do stop your constant and never-ending whatbaoutism with the US - everyone gets it and is tedious.

    USA = Bad

    China = Good

    Russia = Good

    Topic: China

  11. #11
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by panama hat View Post
    China will find out quite quickly that it isn't an indispensable customer
    ...unfortunately, India doesn't have a command economy...it's Australian trade will probably grow more slowly due to democratic inefficiency and weaker standards of consumer education...nonetheless, it's a start...

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