China halted the import of beef from four Australian producers after Beijing threatened trade retaliation against Australia if the latter would push inquiries into the origins of the pandemic.

According to trade minister Simon Birmingham, the cause of the suspensions of Australian beef imports into China were technical issues that have been subsisting for more than a year. He added that the industry is currently under talks to develop a comprehensive response to the issues.

Beijing, on the other hand, had rejected calls from Australia and other governments who pushed for international inquiries into the origins of the pandemic. According to ambassador of China to Australia Cheng Jingye, China might boycott tourism and export products from Australia including wine and beef, among others. The condition of the boycott would depend upon the actions of Australian prime minister Scott Morrison who continues to press for the said inquiry.

At present, China remains as the top importer of Australian beef accounting for 30 percent of the total exports. According to a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, Australia's erroneous words should not be used as a reason to resort in political manipulation. He added that the practice would result in a disruption of international disease prevention.

Last Sunday, Australian grain exports were also warned that China might raise duties on imports of Australian barley.

Australian officials and politicians are also hoping for a justifiable reason to why China halted some imports from the country. Abattoirs of Australia were then labeled as guilty for reported violations of inspection and quarantine requirements.

According to Zhao, the import issues between China and Australia have nothing to do with the political tensions between the countries. He then added that China only wants to uphold the safeguarding of health and safety of its Chinese consumers from violations incurred by Australian importers.

The report further discussed that when Norway awarded a Nobel Peace Prize to a Chinese national, authorities of the country then established import controls on one of Norway's strongest products, the Norwegian salmon. On the other hand, when South Korea had a political disagreement with Beijing regarding the US missile defense system, the former's supermarket chains were then shut down due to safety violations.

Last week, Beijing announced that it would impose larger tariff rates on some Australian products for dumping them at artificially low prices. The trade dispute pertaining to barley products had been ongoing for almost 18 months.s