CONFLATING TRADE WITH POLICY: THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE FRAMEWORKS IN AUSTRALIA-CHINA TRADE RELATIONS

Significant anti-dumping duties and mounting restrictions on the importation of Australian goods into China have characterised bilateral trade relations between Australia and China in recent years. Trade tensions have spilled over from a significant deterioration in bilateral relations over political disagreements. This article examines the potential and the limitations of international trade frameworks to resolve the politically charged trade disputes. The World Trade Organization's ability to address a conflation of trade with political relations is limited. The Australia-China trade disputes exemplify these limitations both systemically and in the resolution of individual disputes. While political disagreements are likely to persist, Australia and China's strong bilateral trade, their people-to-people connections and their roles as key players within the Indo-Pacific provide bilateral relations with ample incentives for a cooperative way forward. Preferential trade agreements may build on the gaps of the WTO framework. The countries' bilateral free trade agreement, the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, provides a strong foundation for bilateral trade relations, but its potential to resolve trade issues has largely been left unused. However, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership may be able to foster the return and commitment to rules-based trade relations on a level playing field. Both their substantive additions to existing trade frameworks and the creation of regional forums for communication and cooperation have the potential to address current tensions and increase predictability for traders. Resumptions of diplomatic communication indicate that Canberra and Beijing are aware of this potential.