With allies like these, Australia doesn't need enemies
With allies like these, Australia doesn't need enemies
Saul Eslake

With allies like these, Australia doesn't need enemies

As Australia’s trade dispute with China continues, allies who have pledged solidarity with Australia have been moving into the trade spaces from which we’ve been evicted. Hardly ‘protecting our back’ as the US boasts.

Did Scott Morrison protest to Joe Biden in their New York meeting? Perhaps he didn’t try. He would have been too concerned to note that in their discussion Joe Biden spoke from notes to ensure that he got Morrison’s name correct, not the ‘fella’ from down under.

Will we ever learn that the US puts its own interests first, not just on strategic issues but on trade as well? The US will assist us if it is in its own interest and not otherwise.

As these charts show, our ‘allies’, including the US, Canada and New Zealand, have quickly grabbed our markets in many fields. Words are hollow if they are not backed by actions.

 

 

 

 

Saul Eslake

Saul Eslake worked as an economist in the Australian financial markets for more than 25 years, including as Chief Economist at McIntosh Securities (a stockbroking firm) in the late 1980s, Chief Economist (International) at National Mutual Funds Management in the early 1990s, as Chief Economist at the Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) from 1995 to 2009, and as Chief Economist (Australia & New Zealand) for Bank of America Merrill Lynch from 2011 until June 2015.