The grim reality facing Australia if we get into a full-blown trade war with China: The price of most consumer items would DOUBLE and there'd be $150 BILLION less for hospitals, roads and services
Australians would be paying double the price for common imported consumer goods if Prime Minister Scott Morrison matched China's trade tariffs.
Without China, Australians would miss out on having affordable Apple iPhones, $49 air fryers from Kmart and even brand new SUVs for $20,000.
China, Australia's biggest trading partner, is the largest buyer of iron ore exports and is by far the largest supplier of imports.
The Communist power has been punishing Australia with punitive 80 per cent tariffs on barley and 200 per cent import taxes on wine, as the diplomatic spat over coronavirus extends into the eighth month.
Leading trade expert Professor Tim Harcourt, however, said Australian consumers would be the real victims if Australia retaliated by slapping import taxes on Chinese goods.
'I don't think it's a real good idea to get a tit-for-tat exchange because that could only be worse,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
Little more than three decades ago, imported electronic goods sold in Australia incurred 45 per cent tariffs.
Should Australia retaliate against China - with 80 per cent tariffs on imports - common consumer goods would almost double in price.
They would triple in price should a 200 per cent tariff be slapped on Chinese imports.
During the last financial year, Australians bought more than $80billion worth of goods from China - by far our biggest import market.
But China's appetite for Australia exports was almost double that at $150billion and a prolonged trade war could put that at risk.
Without a willing buyer for iron ore, the commodity used to make steel, Western Australia would miss out on valuable royalties to build schools, roads and hospitals.
Without that iron ore, China wouldn't be able to make as many of the popular consumer goods sold in Australia.
Australian consumers are still fans of the popular Apple iPhone, which is made at Shenzhen in southern China.
Kmart is only able to offer low prices to shoppers by sourcing goods from China.
Because of this, the discount store is able to sell air fryers for $49 and a whole coffee machine for $89.
In another bizarre twist, Australian motorists have been embracing Chinese-made cars, despite a trade spat sparked by the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan.
Sales of Chinese-made cars have surged by 61 per cent during the past year with 26,451 leaving showrooms in 2020 so far compared with 16,455 during the corresponding first 11 months of 2019, Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries data for November showed.
With a bit of haggling, the Haval H2 SUV is available brand new for just $19,990 or $10,000 less than the slightly larger Mazda CX-5 SUV that is made in Japan.
In just one year, sales of this Chinese SUV have doubled, with 1,740 sold in 2020 so far compared with 819 during the corresponding period in 2019.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9016481/Where-Australia-without-China-retaliating-trade-wont-work.html
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