Australian rock lobster fishermen are growing increasingly frustrated and uncertain about lingering Chinese government trade restrictions, months after the federal government declared they were “very confident” the restrictions were on the brink of ending. 

In late 2020, China's customs agency blocked live rock lobsters from Australia – citing excessive levels of a heavy metal — as part of a wide-ranging campaign of trade coercion against the Morrison government.

The move crippled the crayfish industry, with Chinese exports accounting for 90% of its revenue. 

Beijing has since lifted the vast majority of those trade barriers, including hefty tariffs on barley and Australian wine, as Jim Chalmers is scheduled to become the first Australian treasurer to visit China in seven years.

Bill Woods chats with China Trade Expert, Andrew Phelan, formerly of DFAT to find out why the industry is so reliant on Chinese exports and why we aren’t able to replicate the revenue domestically?