
Employees work on a production line of drones intended for export at a factory in Ruichang, Jiangxi Province, China, on Nov. 27, 2024. STR/AFP via Getty Images
A commercial lawyer with 15 years experience in Hong Kong and China says its time for Australia to cancel its free trade agreement with China, and take a leaf out of the Trump playbook and impose tariffs on Chinese goods to revive local manufacturing.
Dan Ryan, a Mandarin-speaking former board member of the Australia-China Council, says attempts to “liberalise” China have not succeeded, and that going forward, Australia could learn from the Trump administration’s approach to protecting U.S. domestic industries.