Australia and China’s settlement to evaluate commerce restrictions on barley is a vital “first step” towards enhancing strained ties between either side — however a decision could also be nonetheless be months away, Australia’s Commerce Minister Don Farrell informed CNBC.

“Barley is step one in an extended strategy of stabilizing our buying and selling relationship with China,” Farrell mentioned Friday, after the 2 financial giants agreed this week to work towards eradicating tariffs on Australian barley.

Australia on Tuesday agreed to “briefly droop” a World Commerce Group grievance towards China for its 2020 choice to impose 80.5% duties on Australian barley on the top of diplomatic tensions.

“Following latest constructive dialogue in any respect ranges, we welcome China’s settlement to undertake an expedited evaluate of the duties over a three-month interval, which can lengthen to a fourth if required,” the Australian authorities mentioned.

Since China’s 2020 tariffs on barley, Australia has been primarily blocked from exports to that market price about $620 million ($916 million Australian {dollars}) in 2018-19.

“It is an act of goodwill… What we point out was that we’d droop our World Commerce Group utility in respect of barley in return for an early re-examination on China’s a part of the tariffs,” Farrell mentioned.

When requested a few timeline on an entire decision to the barley tariffs, the Australian commerce minister mentioned he was taking a look at “the subsequent three to 4 months.”

“These points did not happen in a single day, they will not be resolved in a single day,” Farrell informed CNBC.

Along with barley, different Australian merchandise caught up within the the China-Australia- commerce dispute embrace wine, lobsters, beef and cotton, which had been slapped with various levels of restrictions.

In March, China reversed restrictions imposed on Australian coal imports, Bloomberg reported citing sources conversant in the matter.

Australian farmers are hoping a reversal of tariffs will likely be prolonged to barley growers.

“We’re hopeful that on the finish of it, that these duties will likely be reviewed, and that will likely be optimistic from a pricing perspective in what has been a really excessive manufacturing 12 months and time for our Australian growers,” Shona Gawel, CEO of GrainGrowers, a consultant physique for Australian grain farmers, informed CNBC “Avenue Indicators Asia” on Wednesday.

Over the previous few years, there was a collective $20 billion price of commerce beforehand carried out with China that has been halted, based on Farrell.

“We have began with barley to see whether or not or not we are able to resolve our excellent points,” Farrell mentioned, including he’s hopeful this might present a template to cope with different tariffs available.

He acknowledged that Australia and China share a considerably “paradoxical relationship.”

“On the one hand, they’re far and away our largest buying and selling companion, we did nearly $300 billion price of commerce with China final 12 months,” he mentioned.

“To place that into perspective, that is greater than the entire trades that we do with the US, Japan, Korea, Singapore, the UK, in Germany, so it is an enormous marketplace for us.”

Whereas the way forward for Australian barley returning to China once more remains to be not confirmed, Farrell is hoping wine could possibly be subsequent on the listing.

In March 2021, China launched a crushing five-year tariff of as much as 218% on Australian wine.

“Wine is the subsequent cab off the rink so far as we’re involved,” the commerce minister informed CNBC, including that Australia has not suspended its attraction to the World Commerce Group towards Beijing with regard to wine.

“I will likely be hopeful that if the method that’s began now ends in a decision of the barley dispute, then we might shortly transfer to resolve the wine dispute,” mentioned the commerce minister.

Australia’s wine trade had been “very arduous hit” by China’s choice to extend tariffs, and in contrast to barley, it has not been as straightforward to supply for different markets for the nation’s wine even with Australia’s new free commerce settlement with India.

“Whereas barley farmers discovered it comparatively straightforward to position their product in different markets, the sheer scale and value premium provided by the Chinese language market made that inconceivable within the case of wine,” mentioned James Laurenceson, director of the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) on the College of Expertise Sydney, informed CNBC in an electronic mail.

“The settlement this week will nearly definitely see Chinese language tariffs eliminated and Australian barley again within the Chinese language market throughout the subsequent six months,” Laurenceson mentioned, including that he hopes the “optimistic trajectory of Australia-China relations continues to agency up.”