/CHINA: Elsewhere on the trade front,.....>

AUSTRALIA: /CHINA: Elsewhere on the trade front, ABC ran the following on

Sino-Australian relations over the weekend: "High-ranking calls to China have

gone unanswered amid an escalating trade dispute with Australia that has been

fuelled by calls to investigate the origins of the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has been seeking to speak with his counterpart

since China threatened to impose an 80 per cent import tariff on Australian

barley. China will make its final decision on the tariff on Tuesday. If it

follows through with the threat, Australian exporters fear it will cripple a

once-lucrative market. "We've made a request for me to be able to have

discussions with my Chinese counterpart," Senator Birmingham told Insiders.

"That request has not been met with a call being accommodated at this stage.""